Chapter 30: Come What May

Never knew I could feel like this

Like I've never seen the sky before

Want to vanish inside your kiss

Everyday I'm loving you more and more

Listen to my heart

Can you hear it sing?

Telling me to give you everything

Seasons may change

Winter to spring but I'll love you

Until the end of time

Come what may

Come what may

I will love you

Until my dying day

Come What May – Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman (Moulin Rouge)

It was raining when Aeris woke up. And she had left the window open. With a cry of dismay, she dashed over to the window and pulled it shut. Vincent stared over at her.

"What's the matter?"

"Left the window open. Oh, look, it's soaked the floor." As if to prove exactly how soaking the floor was, she promptly slipped over. Vincent leapt out of bed.

"Aeris!"

She sat in the puddle, staring at him. He stared back. And she started to giggle. Vincent's concern faded away and he held out a hand to help her up. She took it, still laughing.

"Oh, I hope this isn't an omen for the rest of the day."

"I doubt it. Go and get dressed, I'll make breakfast."

Aeris stood in the hot shower, rinsing the shampoo from her hair. She could hear the radio in the kitchen. A song was playing and she looked at the clock. She dressed quickly and rubbed her hair with a towel as she went into the kitchen. Vincent handed her a plate of toast.

"Do you want a lift?"

"Thanks. Oh, if my parents call, don't tell them where I am. They'll want me to come home for a celebration meal."

"Does your mom cook at celebration meals?"

"Oh yeah."

"In which case I haven't seen you all day."

"Good boy."

Vincent gave her an irritated look. She ignored him and drank some coffee. She almost instantly spat it out.

"Dear god, what is that?"

"That is washing up liquid. I was soaking the pot."

"…I'm going to the café. I'll see you later."

She kissed him and walked the ten minutes to the café. Barret was mopping the floor. He grinned at her.

"Ready for the big day?"

"Couldn't be more ready. But I need coffee."

He poured it into a plastic cup and said,

"Coming in later?"

"Hopefully. I don't know how long the recording is going to take. Oh, I'd better go or I'm going to be late. Which won't make a good impression."

The Turks were in the reception when she arrived. They greeted her cheerfully.

"We're just waiting to find out which room we're in." Reno informed her. Aeris glanced over at the desk. The receptionist was tapping on a computer.

"OK, you're in room 18."

"Thanks Jenny." Rude said as they went through some glass doors.

Room 18 was bright white and had padded walls. Reno and Elena instantly had a race, seeing who could run into the walls first. Tseng rolled his eyes and Rude sat down. A few minutes later Mike appeared.

"Hello, my little stars. Ready to record?" He asked, grinning around at them. Hey all nodded. Mike turned to Aeris.

"Just relax and have fun."

And she did. As Elena played the opening chords, she felt a thrill of excitement rush through her. She leant into the microphone and started to sing. Elena joined in at the chorus and Mike gave them the thumbs up from the next room, where he and a recording assistant where watching.

They ended playing the song around fourteen times in all. The recording assistant came out.

"OK, I think we've got it all guys! Well done!"

"Good job! Want to listen to it?" Mike asked. They all nodded eagerly.

Mike pressed play and Aeris jumped as she heard her own voice coming through the speakers. The Turks were grinning and she had to join in. Elena laughed at the look on her face.

"Look at her! It's like Christmas came early."

"Don't make fun of her. You nearly fainted when you heard the first song on the radio." Reno said casually. Elena hit him and said,

"When's it coming out?"

"We'll have it ready for the radios by next week. And then we'll release it as a single in, oh, about a month's time?"

"Really? That quickly?" Aeris said, surprised. Mike nodded.

"Absolutely. In the mean time, we have work to do people! I've organised everything and you're doing a photo shoot this afternoon, to get the cover for the single. Aeris, you're in that. And we'll be shooting a video in two weeks. I'll phone you with the details. There'll be interviews soon; I'll call you about that too."

Aeris stared at him. Reno elbowed Rude.

"I think we lost her."

"No! No… I'm just amazed!" Aeris said, smiling. Mike laughed.

"Get used to it. OK, you're due at the photo shoot at 2:30. That gives you an hour and a half. Have some fun."

"Let's head over to Barret's." Elena suggested. The others agreed and Mike left to go to a meeting. Barret's was practically empty. Tifa was at the counter, reading a magazine.

"Tifa, do you ever work?" Aeris asked. Tifa shrugged and looked up. After a second of initial shock she smiled.

"What can I get you?"

"Coffee. What else?" Reno replied. Tifa laughed and pointed to a plate of cake.

"Freshly made this morning. Dad's trying another new recipe."

"We'll have some of those too then!" Elena said. Reno pinched her belly.

"Putting on weight, aren't we El?"

"Get stuffed, Reno. You weigh more than I do!"

"It's all muscle, baby." Reno said, flexing an arm.

They sat at the counter as Tifa poured coffee. She smiled at Aeris.

"How'd it go this morning?"

"It was fun!"

"You got mail, by the way." Tifa said, digging in her bag to draw out two envelopes. One was written in handwriting she didn't recognise. The other she did. Tifa saw the look on her face.

"You know who it's from?"

"It's from James Winters." Aeris said. Tseng looked up.

"The reporter?"

"Yeah." Aeris ripped open the envelope and scanned the contents. "He's apologising for what happened and wants to know if he can make it up to me. My, how pathetic."

"What happened?" Elena asked instantly, leaning over. Aeris went pink as she explained. Tifa read the letter.

"He's so… sad. Never mind Aeris, you can just set Vincent on him again."

"I did not set Vincent on him! Vincent attacked him of his own free will." Aeris said.

"Who did I attack?"

Aeris jumped. Vincent had come in and was standing behind her. She laughed and kissed him.

"Hey."

"Hey. Who did I attack?"

"James."

Vincent looked like he wanted to hit something. Aeris screwed up the letter.

"He's been banned from the café, and Shera won't let him talk to me in class. If I ignore him, he'll go away."

"Who's the other letter from?" Tifa asked. Aeris remembered the other letter. She opened it and her face took on an expression of surprise.

"What is it?" Tifa asked.

"N-Nothing." Aeris said, folding the letter. Tifa snatched it away.

"Come on, Aeris! It's obviously something!"

"Tifa, no!" Aeris cried, reaching for the letter. Tifa sighed and handed it back.

"Fine. Meanie."

Vincent looked down at the letter. From Eric Gainsborough. Aeris put it in her bag and said,

"Where's Barret?" At that moment he came out of the kitchen and grinned at the sight of the Turks.

"Thought I'd gotten rid of you."

"With coffee this good? No chance." Tseng said, sipping his coffee. T than moment Yuffie walked in. She caught sight of the Turks and her eyes widened.

"Oh my god!" She squeaked. Reeve followed her and stared too. Elena smiled.

"Aeris, you should probably take notes. They're going to be doing this to you soon."

"Yeah right, Elena. You're the stars! I'm just going to sit back and watch." Aeris assured her.

"Elena, Aeris, get into wardrobe. Guys, I want you in make-up. Go!" Said Mike when they entered the photographers' studio. Elena led Aeris through a door and introduced her to the woman inside. She was extremely tall and thin, with black skin, brown hair and a wide smile.

"Elena, great to see you."

"Aeris, this is Marie. She's our wardrobe manager." Elena said. Marie looked Elena up and down.

"I've got your blue suit, Elena. Go try it on and we'll do any alterations."

Elena disappeared into a changing room. Marie examined a notepad.

"OK, Mike said he doesn't want you wearing the Blue Suit, or it'll make it look like you're a permanent member. Give me a moment; I'll see what we've got."

Aeris watched as Marie shuffled through clothes racks. Aeris examined some of the clothes as she waited. Marie poked her out from a rack and looked Aeris up and down. Muttering to herself, she went back to shuffling through the racks. Suddenly there was a cry of triumph and Marie emerged, holding something white.

"Here we go. Try this on."

It was very much like the blue suits the Turks wore but in pure white. Aeris went into a changing room and put it on. When she came out, Elena was being examined. She grinned at Aeris.

"Looking good!" Marie looked too and smiled.

"Can't go wrong with white. Unless you spill something down it." Aeris quickly moved away form a drink on the surface next to her. Marie and Elena laughed.

"OK, El, you're done. Aeris, how does it fit?"

"It's good."

"Yeah… the trouser legs are a little long. I'll just turn them up for you." Marie bent down and stitched the trousers quickly. Then she turned to Elena.

"Shoes are on the surface. Aeris, what size are you? OK… here you are." She handed her a pair of white shoes. Aeris put them on and stood up. Elena winked at her.

"You look great. OK, we've got make up to do now. The guy's will be through in a minute." She told Marie.

When they reached the make-up room, there were two people inside. A man with a shaven head who was called Terry and a woman called Alexandra. Terry smiled at Elena.

"Let's do your hair and make-up. Aeris, Alexandra will take care of you."

Aeris felt extremely pampered. Yuffie would have loved this. Her hair was washed and blow-dried. Terry peered at her reflection in the mirror.

"Straighten her hair and do make-up." He told Alexandra. She was clearly an assistant in training but she was doing a good job. Aeris had never had straight hair before. Her hair was naturally wavy, and when straightened it was even longer than usual. Alexandra put on some make-up and then turned to Terry. He examined Aeris and then smiled.

"Good job, Alex."

Alexandra blushed and Elena came to look.

"Hey, you look good with straight hair!" She said. Aeris smiled.

"It feels weird!"

"Ladies, we're waiting for you." Mike said, putting his head around the door.

Reno, Rude and Tseng were waiting for them, sitting around and talking. Reno gaped at Aeris.

"Whoa!" Rude elbowed him. Aeris went pink and sat down. Mike had been talking to a photographer.

"OK guys, here's what we're gonna do. Aeris is gonna sit in the middle, so we can have some symmetry."

Mike and the photographer placed them all at different points in front of a screen. They got into several arguments, which was very amusing. Eventually they got one that seemed to satisfy them both. By this time they had been there for nearly two hours. Elena rolled her eyes.

"They argue every single time. It's getting old."

"Hey, come on! We're being artistic here!" Mike called to her. The photographer laughed.

"OK, don't smile. We want straight faces. Look straight at the camera."

By the time they had finished taking photos it had been another hour. Aeris stretched.

"And you have to do this all the time? Wow, I do not envy you." She told the Turks. Reno grinned.

"It's a tough life, but the great amounts of cash make up for it somehow."

"Reno! We do it for the music."

"Yes, that's what we tell the media anyway."

"He doesn't mean it. He loves the music." Rude assured Aeris. Mike laughed.

"He'd better! OK guys, I think we're just about done here. Aeris, I'll call you in a few days about the video shoot."

"Thanks Mike." Aeris said. She looked at her watch. "Is that really the time?"

"What's up?" Elena asked.

"I've got one-on-one music in fifteen minutes! I'm never going to make it!"

"Don't sweat it; I'll give you a lift." Reno said.

For some reason, there was never any parking by the music building. Reno and Aeris had to circle the building twice before finding a place to park.

"Thanks so much Reno, you're a lifesaver."

"Yeah, I know." Reno grinned. Aeris picked up her bag.

"I'll see you later, OK?"

"Sure thing. Later Aeris."

Aeris got out of the car and bumped into Bernadette from her music class.

"Hey Aeris. Haven't you got one-on-one now? Didn't know we had to get dressed up for it now!" She teased. Aeris realised she still had on the make-up and outfit from the shoot. Aeris grinned and shrugged.

"Seriously late and Shera's gonna kill me."

"Hey, isn't Reno from the Turks?" Bernadette said in shock, as Reno waved goodbye to her, pulling out of the parking space.

"Um, yeah. Got to run, I'll see you in music!" Aeris said, dashing for the door.

Shera lifted an eyebrow as she came in.

"Formal music today?" Aeris rolled her eyes.

"I've just come from a photo shoot. I recorded a song with the Turks this morning!"

"Oh Aeris, that's fantastic! I like the suit, by the way."

"Yeah, OK. What'd you wanna work on today?"

Dear Aeris,

I hope your flight home was alright. I don't tend to fly often, so I wouldn't know! Anyway just writing to say that you didn't leave your telephone number, which is why I didn't call. Call me soon.

Eric.

Aeris sat picked up the phone and dialled his number.

"Hello, Eric Gainsborough."

"It's Aeris."

"Aeris! You got my letter?"

"Yeah, today. My roommate gave it to me."

"Great! Let me get your number before I forget."

Aeris smiled she read out the number. She was having a very good day.

Vincent was reading when she got to his apartment that night. He didn't look up as she came in and peered over his shoulder.

"What are you reading?"

"Frankenstein."

"Enjoying it?"

"Very much." Finally he looked up and saw her. His mouth fell open. A completely new experience for him.

"Don't laugh at me! People have been making fun of me all day, and I did not pick this outfit, they gave it to me, and they gave me straight hair too!" Aeris said before he could say a word. Vincent merely shook his head.

"You look wonderful, Aeris."

"Oh." She said, surprised. "Well, you can say that!"

"I just did. What do you want for dinner?"

"I'm making it tonight! You did it yesterday." Aeris protested, "I'll just get changed and then I'll get started."

Vincent smiled as she went into the bedroom.