Chapter 27: Taking Over Me

You don't remember me

But I remember you

I lie awake and try so hard

Not to think of you

But who can decide what they dream?

And dream I do…

I believe in you

I'll give up everything just to find you

I have to breathe

You're taking over me

Taking Over Me – Evanescence

Infalna and Matthew were waiting outside the airport for them. Aeris hugged them and then turned to Yuffie. She was waving to someone.

"I'll call you tonight Aeris. Dad sent a car for me and Reeve." Aeris peered in the direction she had been waving in. A limousine and chauffeur.

"Travelling in style now!" She said, elbowing Reeve. He looked rather ill.

"How was the journey?" Matthew asked as they sat in the taxi on the way to the hotel.

"Not bad. Food was gross, but the journey wasn't too bad." Aeris said. Vincent shrugged.

"I didn't think it was that bad."

"You brought sandwiches." Aeris pointed out. Vincent smiled a satisfied smile.

"Well, you'll like the hotel. We're speaking in three days, so we'll have plenty of time together. We do have a few conferences before then, but you probably don't want to go to those." Infalna.

Aeris said,

"We can go to the Da Chao together."

"Absolutely. We've been looking forward to doing that." Matthew said. He looked out of the window.

"Ah! Here we are! The Turtle Inn."

Vincent and Aeris had adjoining rooms, by a shared bathroom. Aeris unpacked her things and then went through to Vincent's room. He was putting things into a wardrobe and smiled as she came in.

"Finished already?"

"Yeah. Come on; let's go find Mom and Dad. They said they'd be waiting in the tearooms."

Infalna and Matthew were sitting at a small round table outside. Aeris and Vincent joined them.

"I've ordered some tea." Matthew said. Infalna turned to Vincent.

"We're now going to completely embarrass Aeris and talk to you for a while."

"Ugh, I pity you." Aeris told Vincent. He did look slightly worried. Matthew laughed.

"It's alright Vincent… we just wanted to find out some more about you. You take art I believe?"

"Yes. I'll be finishing University at the end of the year."

"What are you going to do next?" Matthew asked, stirring sugar into the tea, which had just arrived.

"I have quite a bit of money and I own my own home. And I have some exhibitions coming up."

"People are starting to order Valentine Originals." Aeris said proudly. Vincent nodded.

"I sell art pictures to the art shops in Midgar and to some museums. And sometimes Hotels buy pieces. And as Aeris said, there are private buyers getting interested." He said nervously. Infalna smiled.

"I'd love to see some of your work."

"I'll send you some." He said. Matthew said,

"You're doing very well."

"Thank you… I've worked hard, and it's paid off."

"Wonderful! Oh dear…" Infalna said. They all looked around and saw a man heading for their table. He had a thick white beard and thin wire spectacles, and had a very imposing air about him.

"Who's that?"

"Jonathan Drake. One of the world's leading scientists in Biochemistry. The most pompous man you're ever likely to meet." Matthew whispered.

Drake stopped at their table and said in a thick, pompous voice,

"Matthew and Infalna Gast. It's an absolute pleasure to meet you again." He said, shaking hands with the pair. Before anyone could say anything he had sat down at their table.

"Terrible news about that article, terrible." He said, shaking his head. Matthew nodded.

"Thank you, Jonathon. But I think the air has been cleared now."

"I didn't believe a word of it you know. Absolute garbage." Drake said, helping himself to tea. His grey eyes settled on Vincent and Aeris.

"I don't believe we've met?" he said, holding out a hand.

"Vincent Valentine."

"Aeris Gainsborough."

"Aeris Gainsborough? Oh, Infalna's daughter? Yes, you were in the article also."

"Yes." Aeris said. Drake peered at her.

"If memory serves, I believe you attend Midgar University?"

"Yes, I do. So does Vincent."

"Quite, quite. And I suppose you're going to follow in your parents footsteps? Help create the next generation of scientists?"

"Actually, Jonathon, Aeris is a musician." Matthew said. Drake looked surprised.

"Really? Well, I suppose, if that's where your calling lies… and what about you, young man?" He said, turning on Vincent.

"I'm an artist."

"An artist? Hmm… well, I suppose science is a mainly family trait. If you don't come from a scientific family, it's hard to-"

"Actually, my parents were scientists." Vincent interrupted. Drake surveyed him.

"Might I have heard of them?"

"Richard Hojo and Lucrecia Adams."

"Oh! My goodness, you're Vincent Hojo?"

"No. Vincent Valentine." Vincent said calmly. Drake frowned.

"You changed your name? Why on earth… your parents were greatly admired."

"Because my parents suffered great scrutiny throughout their lives. I didn't want that." Vincent replied. Aeris held his hand and he squeezed her fingers lightly.

"I see… as good a reason as any, I suppose." Drake said, no longer interested in the subject.

"Now, what are you speaking on?"

"Excuse us." Aeris said, standing up with Vincent. They quickly left the room. Infalna was throwing them a glare that said 'you are going to pay for leaving us alone with this man'.

"Interesting man." Vincent commented. Aeris laughed and nodded.

"I know… you realise that Mom and Dad are going to get us back for this?"

"What do you think they'll do?" Vincent asked. Aeris shrugged.

"I don't know… make us eat Mom's cooking?"

They walked around the area surrounding the hotel. It was surrounded by stores and squares with ornamental fountains. They walked for half an hour and found themselves standing at a bridge. There was a building in the centre of a square of water, with bridges leading in each direction.

"What's this?" Aeris wondered aloud.

"The Mayor's house…" Vincent said, reading a sign. They both looked at it in awe.

"Wow… so this is where Yuffie lives."

"I guess so."

"It's pretty impressive." Aeris said, "I can picture Yuffie living here."

"I know what you mean. We should probably get back to the hotel." Vincent replied, looking at his watch.

Hand in hand, they walked back to the Turtle Inn. Infalna and Matthew were sitting in the garden. Jonathon Drake was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey guys." Aeris said, sitting down. Infalna looked away. Matthew laughed.

"She's sulking for leaving us with Jonathon."

"He was remarkably dull wasn't he?" Vincent commented. Matthew nodded.

"I shouldn't think he'll talk to us again. He makes it a point not to talk to people more than once. He's a socialite."

"Mom, talk to me." Aeris said. Her mother glared at her.

"You are going to pay dearly for that, Aeris."

"Yeah, I know. Anyway, cheer up. We've got four days together."

"Why don't we do Da Chao tomorrow? See if Yuffie and Reeve can join us."

"OK. The day after that Yuffie's opening an orphanage. We have to go and laugh at her." Aeris said. Her parents looked at her and she shrugged.

"What? It's funny."

"Fine. The day after that is when we're talking. That's in the morning. We can go shopping in the afternoon. The day after that we're going home and you've got another week, haven't you?"

"Yes. We're going home next Tuesday." Vincent said. Infalna smiled.

"Plenty of time!"

"It's going to be an exhausting four days." Aeris muttered.

And it was.

They climbed up the mountain side to stand on the Da Chao. There were guided tours. Aeris and Vincent stood on one of the outstretched hands of the mountains, looking down at Wutai.

"Look! There's the hotel!" Aeris pointed.

"And Yuffie's house." Vincent said. Yuffie and Reeve joined them. Yuffie pointed to a building a few miles out of Wutai.

"That's the training Pagoda. Martial Artists have studied there for years. Wutai has produced some of the best fighters in the world"

"Tifa would love it." Aeris commented.

Infalna and Matthew waved to the four of them.

"We're going to take the ride down. Do you want to come?"

The carts that went down the mountain on cables gave them a wonderful view of the mountains. Aeris took lots of photographs of them.

The second day was a lovely sunny day. Aeris, Vincent, Infalna and Matthew met Yuffie and Reeve outside Yuffie's home. She looked irritable.

"I feel ridiculous." She muttered.

"You look lovely, Yuffie." Aeris assured her. She was dressed in a formal oriental dress in green and gold. Her hair was made into a traditional style. Reeve smiled at her.

"You look amazing."

That made her smile.

An elderly man emerged from the house. He had greying hair and shared Yuffie's oriental features. He stopped and bowed, as was the custom. They returned the gesture.

"Dad, this is Aeris Gainsborough and Vincent Valentine. They're friends from University. And these are Aeris's parents. They're in town for a conference. Guys, this is my dad, Lord Godo."

"It is a pleasure to meet Lady Yuffie's friends." Godo said, shaking hands with each of them. Yuffie ground her teeth.

The orphanage was on the west side of Wutai. They took a car there and when the door was opened, Godo made sure that Yuffie was the first to get out. She looked extremely annoyed.

The ceremony didn't take long. Aeris and her companions stood near the front of the crowd. Yuffie had insisted that Reeve stand with her. He looked extremely pale. The head of the orphanage was making a speech.

"It was a grateful heart that we thank Lord Godo Kisaragi for funding our orphanage. And we also thank Lady Yuffie Kisaragi for opening our orphanage. Lady Yuffie…"

Yuffie took a pair of scissors from a patron of the orphanage and cut the ribbon. Tumultuous applause rang out as Yuffie shook hands with the head of the orphanage as cameras went off, taking photos.

As the crowd dispersed Yuffie and Reeve joined them.

"Stop laughing Aeris!"

"I wasn't laughing! You looked good." Aeris insisted. Yuffie rolled her eyes.

"Big deal. I cut a ribbon and shook hands with the heads."

"But no one cuts a ribbon quite like you." Vincent said sincerely. Yuffie glared at him.

"Ha ha. Come on, there's refreshments inside."

The day of the speeches arrived. Aeris found herself and Vincent in the main room of the Turtle Inn. Yuffie and Reeve had gone out with Lord Godo for the day.

Aeris listened to her parent's speak. She had never found their work interesting but she paid attention to this. It was about a cure they had discovered for a blood disease recently. Vincent was watching with intense interest. That was something Aeris particularly admired about him. If he was doing something, he always put his whole into it, making sure to take in everything.

Infalna and Matthew were very well received. A standing applause proved this. As they shook hands with the people that had rushed up to congratulate them, Aeris and Vincent waited for them to finish. Eventually they joined the pair.

"That was fascinating." Vincent said, shaking Matthews's hand.

"Thank you Vincent."

"You were both great." Aeris said. Infalna eyed her.

"You were bored, weren't you?"

"No! I mean, normally I would have been, but that really was interesting." Aeris insisted. Infalna merely went,

"Hmm." And turned to talk with Matthew.

For several days nothing particularly interesting happened. Then, on Friday morning Aeris decided she couldn't put it off any longer. She went down to the front desk of the hotel and asked for a local directory book.

Vincent, Yuffie and Reeve came into her bedroom as she sat down with the book. She hastily covered it up.

"Hey Guys."

"We're going over to the Pagoda. Check out some of the martial artists. Wanna come?" Yuffie asked. Aeris shook her head.

"No… I have something to do today."

"What?" Yuffie asked curiously. Aeris looked hesitant.

"It's kind of private… but it's important too. I just need to have today to do it."

"But-"

"That's fine Aeris." Reeve said, dragging Yuffie from the room. Vincent pulled the cover from over the directory.

"You're going to see him?"

"…Yeah. If I can work up the nerve."

"Do you want me to come?" He asked concernedly. Aeris shook her head.

"No, I really need to do this alone."

"Alright. I'll take my mobile phone. If you need me-"

"I'll call. Go have fun." Aeris smiled at him.

Vincent bent down and kissed her. She smiled.

"Go on. Have fun at the pagoda." She insisted, pushing him towards the door. Once he had left, she opened the directory and looked up Eric Gainsborough.

Ten minutes later she had his address:

46 Leviathan Street, Wutai.

Aeris went downstairs and handed in the directory. Picking up a street map of Wutai she looked for Leviathan Street. It was a twenty minute walk or so, by the look of it.

So she started walking.

A/N: Yes, I know I'm evil for leaving it there. Don't worry; the next chapter shall be out soon. I kind of rushed this one, because I wanted to get on with the main plot and not get sidetracked. But thank you so much for the reviews. You really know how to get me writing! LOL, please tell me what you think.