Chapter 33: Shooting Star

And I see a shooting star

Set apart from all the rest

While the other stars are standing still

He's on a quest

Every night this shooting star

Danced across the twilight sky

Cos he knows he doesn't quite fit in

And he's longing to know why

Shooting Star – Boyzone (Hercules)

Aeris' birthday was coming up. March 23rd. That was almost two weeks away, but Infalna rang Aeris on the 8th with her birthday in mind.

"Are you coming home for your birthday or are you staying in Midgar? Because your father and I would like to see you at some point."

"I was planning on staying here. But why don't you come and stay the night? Barret said we can hold a party at his place. Well, not really a party. Just close friends and family really."

"Oh, that sounds lovely!" Infalna sighed. Aeris swallowed hard.

"Mom… there's something I have to tell you and Dad. Can I come over on Sunday?"

"Of course, darling. Bring Vincent and we'll have Sunday lunch!"

Aeris' eyes widened.

"Um… are you going to cook?"

"I don't think I'll have the time. I'll probably just buy something ready made. Is that alright?"

"That's fine, Mom!" Aeris said, punching the air.

She hung up just as Vincent came in. She was in her dorm room, finishing off some homework. Or at least, she had been until Infalna rang.

"Can you come to Kalm with me on Sunday?"

"Alright. Why?"

"Well, I was going over to talk to Mom and Dad. Mom told me to bring you too, for Sunday lunch. But don't worry; she's buying it, not cooking it."

"What are you going to talk to them about?" Vincent asked. Aeris bit her lip.

"Eric Gainsborough. He's going to be in Midgar for my birthday. I figured I'd better tell them before they see him."

"Good idea. Moral support."

"Yeah. Oh my god, you're not going to believe this!" Aeris said suddenly. She leapt up and went to the wardrobe. From inside it she pulled a large sack. Vincent stared at it.

"What is that?"

"I haven't had time to read it all, but…" She turned the sack upside down and hundreds of envelopes and packages fell out. Vincent picked one up.

"Fan mail?" He said incredulously.

"Yeah! They sorted through it at the studio, taking out the gross and dangerous ones. These are the ones I can have." Aeris said. She picked up one she had already opened.

Dear Aeris,

Just wanted to say that I loved the song! I hope to hear more of your work in the future! You should be a singer as well as a songwriter. You've got a lot of talent! Hoping to hear you soon!

Your fan

Geri Dranston.

"Wow." Vincent said, shocked. Aeris picked up a package.

"I wonder what this is." She opened it and out fell a teddy bear with a note pinned to it.

"'For cheering me up with your song'. I don't believe it." She said. Vincent smiled.

"You're a celebrity."

The door opened and Tifa came in with Cloud, Yuffie and Reeve. They stared at the letters.

"What the hell?" Yuffie said. Aeris grinned sheepishly.

"Fan mail. Wanna help me open it?"

They sat around for the best part of an hour, reading through the fan mail. Cloud got into a terrible fit of giggles over a picture one guy had sent of himself, flexing muscles and grinning charmingly. Aeris laughed at the letters.

"I can't believe there are actually people who would bother to send me mail."

"I know! Are you going to reply to any of it?" Cloud asked. Aeris shrugged.

"I can't answer it all. I'd be here for months."

She picked up a letter. It looked like it was written by a child.

Dear Miss Aeris,

Hi! I'm Chloe! I'm only eight but I really really liked your song! It was really happy and made me feel happy when I was in hospatil hospital. I was in hospital because I had Grandia Disease just like you! I'm getting better now though, but I feel sick a lot. Do you get sick a lot too? I hope not, because then you couldn't do more nice songs. Please do more songs, OK? That will make people in hospital feel happy, like me.

From Chloe Johnson.

Aeris stared at the letter. Tifa peered over her shoulder.

"Oh, that's so sweet." She said sadly. Aeris nodded slowly.

"Yeah… it is." She murmured. She looked up at the others and smiled. "Let's get a drink."

As they sat in the café, Aeris looked at them all.

"Um… guys, I've got something to tell you." They all looked at her. She stared down at her coffee.

"It's about my birthday. There's someone I want to invite."

"Aeris, it's your birthday. You can invite who you want." Tifa told her incredulously. Aeris laughed.

"I know. But it's more than that. You remember in Wutai, when I disappeared for a day?"

"Uh, yeah. Are you finally going to tell us?" Yuffie demanded. Aeris raised an eyebrow.

"Not with that attitude!"

"Yuffie, be quiet. Go on Aeris." Tifa said.

Aeris swallowed hard. She had a lump in her throat.

"I… I went to see my father. My real father. Eric Gainsborough."

"But… I thought he was dead!" Reeve exclaimed.

"Apparently not as dead as we thought." Aeris said, "It turned out that he didn't die. He got a friend to call Mom and Dad and say that he was. In fact, he was Vincent's legal guardian for a few years. Vincent didn't know that we thought he was dead. Anyway, that's beside the point. The fact is that he's alive. We've been talking on the phone after I went to see him in Wutai. And he's coming to Midgar for my birthday."

Tifa, Yuffie, Reeve and Barret sat in silence. Tifa looked at Cloud.

"You don't seem particularly shocked by this."

"Cloud already knows. I told him a few weeks ago." Aeris explained. Yuffie said,

"Why didn't you tell us? Didn't you think you could trust us?"

"Yuffie, no! That's not it at all… I wasn't ready. Vincent already knew because that's how I got in contact with him in the first place. Cloud knows because I… well, I felt guilty, because he's my oldest friend and everything. I mean, not even my parents know yet. The fact is that until a couple of months ago, my father was dead. Suddenly he comes back to life. It was kind of a shock. I needed to get over it myself before I let others know."

"We understand, Aeris. This is big. No, this is huge." Tifa said, patting her hand comfortingly. Aeris smiled.

"Thanks. It's just so unbelievable."

"You must be nervous about seeing him again!" Barret said. Aeris pulled a face.

"I'm more nervous about telling my parents. What am I gonna say? Mom, Dad, remember that guy who's my real father? Well he's coming to my birthday!"

"Maybe you should say hi first." Reeve suggested. Yuffie grinned.

"Don't worry about it. It'll be fine."

"Sure hope so." Aeris muttered. She looked at her watch and Vincent asked,

"Meeting?"

"Yeah. Tseng said he'd pick me up from here, since he's driving past anyway." She said. Tifa asked,

"How's Reno?"

"Well, when I saw him for the first time after that article was published, he looked like he was going to start bawling like a baby. But I told him its fine and that Vincent wasn't going to hit him." Vincent looked startled.

"What made him think I'd hit him in the first place?" He demanded. Aeris smiled sweetly.

"I told him what you did to James."

Vincent rolled his eyes and Aeris saw Tseng come in. He came over.

"Hey." He said. Aeris grinned.

"Ready to go?"

"Absolutely."

"OK, then. I'll see you guys later." She said, kissing Vincent. Tseng smiled as they got into the car.

"Everything's OK with you and Vincent?"

"Yeah… I mean, it was a bit weird at first, but it's OK." Aeris sat, putting on her seatbelt. Tseng pulled out onto to the road and put on the radio. To their amusement the first chords of their song were playing.

"Hey, I think I've heard this one." Aeris joked. Tseng smirked.

"Definitely sounds familiar."

They stopped at a red light. In the car next to them, which was a topless car, were four girls. They were playing the song and singing along loudly. Aeris thought she might just spontaneously combust from laughter. Tseng looked at her with a mischievous look she hadn't seen before.

"Shall we roll down the window?"

"Sure, why not?" He pressed the button. The movement caught the attention of one of the girls and she glanced over. After doing a perfect double take, she stared at them and then at the radio. Aeris waved and the girl started to shriek.

"It's them! It's them!" The other girls peered over in awe. Aeris and Tseng waved cheerfully. One girl yelled,

"I love you Tseng! Marry me!" Tseng laughed and winked at her. The light changed to green and he pressed the acceleration. Aeris looked behind them and saw the girls still screaming and waving.

They were still laughing when they got to the meeting.

"Record sales are through the roof! We haven't had so much success in ages!" Said Priscilla, one of the agents in the meeting. It was the Turks, Aeris, Mike, several agents and the head of Midgar Media ltd himself, Sephiroth Ancient. His startlingly green eyes and long silver hair made him look extremely hard, even with a face as young as his. He couldn't be more than thirty years old. Aeris sat nervously on the edge of her chair. Mike leant forward.

"See? A feature song was just what we needed. Now the Turks can take their break and the sales from the songs can manage themselves. The odd publicity appearance is all we need. The album is out in three months; the Turks go off and do their own thing. Then we can start the tour in late November."

Sephiroth thought about it.

"We don't do things like that normally. But I'm always prepared to try new things. We'll go with that for now."

"Great!" Mike said, clapping his hands. Priscilla cleared her throat and looked at Sephiroth.

"Sir? The Movie."

"Oh yes. Go ahead."

"OK, here's the deal. Rufus Shinra got in contact with us last week. He's shooting a new film, that's gonna be out in October. He wants the song for the soundtrack. It worked out well last time, and he think is may do this time as well."

Mike turned to the Turks.

"What do you think? Your song, your decision."

"I'm all for it." Elena said, a little too hastily. Reno sniggered and she elbowed him. Rude nodded.

"Yeah, sure. But Aeris has to decide ultimately. It's her song." Aeris looked up, shocked. Everyone looked at her.

"Um… yeah, that sounds good." She stammered. Mike smiled.

"OK. I'll give Rufus a call and tell him that's a go."

"Hmm. Alright, let's look at articles." Sephiroth. Priscilla said,

"Mostly, we're looking good. A lot of the articles are about the Turks and the song. A couple of human interest ones. Oh, and this one." She waved it in the air. Aeris winced, recognising it instantly and Reno groaned. Sephiroth took it and read it briefly. He looked up.

"Well?" He asked, looking from Aeris to Reno. Aeris said instantly,

"It's not true!"

"Really? It looks pretty convincing from here." Sephiroth said, a glint of amusement in his eye. Reno shook his head.

"It's all crap. Aeris is still with Vincent, I'm still single. Hear that Priscilla? Still single." he called down to her. She rolled her eyes in disgust. Sephiroth glanced down at the paper.

"James Winters?" he asked no one in particular.

"He's my ex-boyfriend." Aeris admitted. Elena said,

"He's a jerk. He keeps writing stuff about Aeris and her parents."

"Oh, that James Winters. Priscilla, make a note. He's not to be allowed access to the building without permission." Sephiroth said idly. Priscilla jotted it down. Sephiroth looked over at Aeris.

"Winters is harassing you?"

"Um… I don't know. I mean, I've told him to stop writing stuff, but he keeps trying to talk to me. It's hard to avoid him; he's in my music class."

"He gives you any trouble, tell Heidegger. He's in charge of clientele security." He nodded towards a round man with a black beard and hair. Aeris nodded.

The meeting lasted for nearly two hours. Eventually Sephiroth stood up.

"That's all for now. Mike, a word? Priscilla, get on the phone and make some calls." He barked out orders to the rest of the staff and then left. Aeris slumped in her chair.

"Wow. He's not at all intimidating." She muttered to Reno. Reno snorted with laughter.

"Sephiroth's alright. He's a businessman. Come on, let's get a drink."

They went down to a bar in the basement of the building. Aeris had a coke, not being particularly keen on alcohol.

"Besides, I have literature later. I don't want to turn up out of my skull." She reminded Reno, who was trying to coax her into a 'real drink'. Elena laughed.

"Leave her alone, Reno. So, what did you think of the Boss?"

"Sephiroth? Scary!" She chuckled. Elena smiled.

"Yeah, but hot, right?"

"Can't deny it." Aeris replied. Rude laughed.

"Elena, do you think about anything apart from guys?"

"Hey! I think about lots of other stuff!"

"Like what?" Tseng questioned. Elena smiled.

"Clothes. Shoes. I like shoes." She grinned at Aeris, "I swear, I'm not actually this shallow."

"Yeah, she still won't wear a bikini for the CD cover. I still think it would improve sales." Reno grunted. Elena hit him.

"Shut up, Reno."

Tseng then told them about the journey to meeting. They all roared with laughter. Elena wiped her eyes.

"Marriage proposal? That's a new one."

"No, it's not. Remember that concert when a girl turned up in a wedding dress holding a sign asking Rude to marry her?" Reno pointed out. Aeris stared at Rude.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. She then tried to sneak backstage, but she got caught." Rude replied, sipping his drink. Aeris laughed and said,

"Unbelievable!"

"I know. It's crazy." Rude replied. Aeris swallowed her coke and then said,

"I got a whole load of fan mail the other day. It's weird!"

"Ah, you'll get used to it." Elena said dismissively. Reno nodded.

"Yeah, the novelty wears off after a while."

Aeris looked at her watch.

"I'd better go. I need to finish up a paper before class."

"OK. I'll give you a lift. I need to go and see Shera about teaching anyway." Tseng said. They finished their drinks and bade the others farewell.

Professor Jenova was a bit late to the class, which was lucky, because Aeris was too. She burst through the door and seeing no teacher, darted over to her seat beside Cloud. Several people laughed. Cloud grinned.

"What's up with you?"

"The computer crashed. I had to go through all my disks trying to find the backup of my paper." Aeris panted. She got her things out and Cloud asked,

"How'd the meeting go?"

"It was OK. I met Sephiroth Ancient."

"Oh my god, that's so cool!" Said the girl on Aeris' other side, who had obviously been listening. Aeris grinned.

"He's pretty scary. Oh, and you know Rufus Shinra?"

"You've met Rufus Shinra?" The girl squealed. Several people leant forward from the row behind. Aeris couldn't help grinning.

"Um, no. But he wants to use the song for his next movie. Mike's gonna call him and say it's OK."

"What are the Turks like?" A guy who sat behind Cloud asked. Aeris smiled.

"They're great. They're really funny."

"What, even Tseng? He always seemed kinda quiet." Someone asked. Aeris nodded.

"He is, but once you get to know him he's so sweet. Reno and El are the noisy ones."

"El? You mean Elena?"

"Yeah. Rude and Tseng are quieter, but they've got great senses of humour."

The door opened and Jenova walked in. The class fell silent as the lesson started, and Aeris started to take notes.