Chapter 56: You've Got A Friend In Me
You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
When the road looks rough ahead
And you're miles and miles
From your nice warm bed
You just remember what your old pal said
Boy, you've got a friend in me
Yeah you've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me – Toy Story
The next day, Friday, Aeris woke up early. She left Vincent sleeping and made herself a cup of tea. He needed rest. After the excitement of the past two days none of them had had much sleep.
After a shower, Aeris found herself feeling restless. It had been a while since she'd gone for a run and it'd be good for her leg to get a little exercise. She dressed and headed for the park, listening to a CD as she did so.
It was about 7 in the morning so the roads weren't too busy. Aeris reached the park and started to run around the edge. She used to love running but hadn't had time lately. Running was something she could enjoy purely for what it was. Just being alone, at a time when the world was barely awake and she could just let go and be free for a short while.
She'd been running for over half an hour before her leg started to play up. It was still weak and she needed to build it up again. She sat down and rubbed it until it was less sore. After a few minutes she started back to the apartment. When she unlocked the door she found that Vincent was awake and in the kitchen. The TV was on and he was watching the news as he made coffee.
"Good morning." She said. He smiled.
"Good morning. Good run?"
"Yeah. I think I might have overdone it a bit though. My leg kinda hurts."
"Have some painkillers." He passed her the bottle. She tipped a couple of pills onto the palm of her hand and swallowed them with some water. Vincent wheeled himself past her to get the toast that had just popped up.
"What time is your hospital appointment?" Aeris asked. Since Vincent's injuries were much more serious he had regular appointments.
"Ten this morning. You have a class."
"I can skip it."
"No, you're going. I can get to the hospital. Reeve's already said he'd come with me. He's not got a class then." Vincent said firmly.
"OK… but I'm buying you lunch at Barret's." Aeris said reluctantly.
"Fair enough." Vincent agreed. He stopped. "We're on the news."
"What?"
She looked up and sure enough, she saw footage of herself and Vincent leaving the hospital, taken the previous day when they had left with Cloud.
"Aeris Gainsborough, the music sensation, was held hostage at Barret's Café of Midgar for two days this week by well-known businessman Lucas Palmer. Aeris, along with several friends from Midgar University, her partner Vincent Valentine and the owner of Barret's Café, Barret Wallace, were confined to the café for over 24 hours. A reliable source informed us that Aeris' childhood friend, Cloud Strife was kidnapped by Palmer who awaits trial next week. Cloud was safely returned the day before yesterday and was taken to hospital due to wounds inflicted by Palmer. We have not yet been informed as to why Aeris was made a target but that the injuries that Aeris and Vincent suffered from a car accident were also caused by Palmer. More on this as we receive information."
"Well, that didn't take long did it?" Aeris said quietly. Vincent looked up at her.
"They'll probably start calling here for more information."
"We won't say anything though. Not yet. Maybe after the trial. I don't want to say anything that might cause Palmer to get away." Aeris said leaning down and putting her arms around him. They both looked at the television screen. Pictures of them Yuffie, Tifa, Reeve, Barret, James and Cloud were showing, most of the footage coming from when they had left the café after Cloud had been found.
Sure enough, just moments later, the phone started to ring. They let the machine get it.
"Hello, Aeris Gainsborough and Vincent Valentine? This is Max Rumson from the Crater Magazine. We'd like to interview you about the Palmer incident. You can reach me at this number…" And so on. When the phone stopped ringing, an hour later, Vincent deleted all of the messages. Aeris collected her things.
"I'm going to run over to Barret's and get a coffee before music. I want to talk to Tseng before class."
"OK, I'll meet you at the café at 12." Vincent said. Aeris kissed him.
"Are you sure you'll be at the hospital?"
"I'll be fine. Go on, or you'll be late." He pushed her and she laughed, heading out of the door.
Barret's café was quite full, with students desperate to hype up on caffeine before their first class. Aeris waited in the queue until she reached the front. Tifa was serving.
"Hey coffee girl." Aeris greeted her. Tifa laughed.
"Hey. What can I get you?"
"Decaf please. Can't have the real stuff til I'm off the painkillers." Barret was serving another customer but he nodded at the TV.
"Did you see the news?"
"Yup. We're famous." Aeris said. Tifa laughed.
"Great. Famous for almost getting killed. Besides, they didn't even name me! I'm just one of your 'university friends'."
"Sorry Tifa. It's a harsh business. You're obviously not cut out for it." Aeris said in mock-sympathy. Tifa chuckled.
"Yeah, yeah, hilarious. Get a move on, we're busy."
"Love you too, Tifa. See you later."
Aeris pushed her way out of the café and walked out. But just as she turned the corner she bumped into someone, spilling about half of her coffee over his shirt. The guy jumped back in surprise. Aeris covered her mouth with her hand, horrified.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" The guy laughed slightly.
"It's OK."
"I can't believe I just did that…" Aeris said, feeling the blood rush to her face. The guy wiped at his shirt and laughed.
"Don't worry about it. Hey… do I know you?" He was staring at her. Aeris hesitated.
"Uh… maybe. I'm Aeris Gainsborough."
"Of course! I've heard your song on the radio. And you were on the news this morning."
"Yeah." Aeris said, slightly embarrassed. He held out his hand.
"I'm Tom Wakeman. You're here at MU, right?"
"Yes, Literature and Music."
"Art and Architecture." Tom said. He looked at his watch. "Ah, I've got to run. I've got a meeting. It was great to meet you Aeris."
"Same here. Oh, and I'm sorry about…" she gestured at his shirt. He laughed.
"Don't worry. If you hadn't done it, I probably would have. See you around."
He darted off. Aeris smiled and headed towards music. It was nice to know that there were still some sane people around.
Tseng was scribbling on a sheet when Aeris walked in. He smiled.
"Morning. Bit early aren't you?"
"Yeah, I needed to ask you something. You can play guitar, right? I mean, I know you're the drummer but…"
"Yeah, I can play. I just happen to be better at drums. Why?"
"Well, I felt guilty about getting Cloud all kidnapped and stuff so I asked how I could make it up to him. And he asked me to write him a song, which I've done. So I was going to do it at the Open Mic Night tonight-"
"But you can't play it."
"Exactly."
"Let me see."
She handed him the sheet music and he read it. A smile crossed his face.
"I think we'll manage. Let's go through it now."
They managed to do it about four times before the first few members of the class started to come in.
"Thanks Tseng, you're a life saver."
"No problem Aeris." He smiled. Aeris asked,
"So, how does it feel to not be in the band anymore?"
"Considering I share a flat with Rude, and Reno and Elena are over every evening anyway it doesn't feel much different."
Aeris laughed as Tseng got up. Yuffie took the seat next to her. Tseng looked around.
"Are we all here? Good. OK, I checked my records and we've got one month until the end of the year. And you know what that means?"
"Concert." Several people said.
"Yup. I've been looking at the work you did for the last one and you seem to manage pretty well. Who organized the last one? Aeris? OK, well we want someone different for this one. Any nominees?"
"I nominate Yuffie!" Aeris said, putting her hand up quickly. Yuffie looked shocked. Aeris pulled a face. "Call this revenge for doing it to me last time!"
It ended up with Bernadette and Yuffie tying so they both decided to take charge. Yuffie looked around,
"Couldn't we do it pretty much the same as last time? You know, a solo each."
"Why don't you try doing something together this time? A class performance." Tseng suggested from his chair. Everyone seemed very enthusiastic about that. Everyone started talking about what they were going to perform. Bernadette said,
"Aeris, why don't you write us a song to perform?"
Aeris looked up sharply.
"What?"
"C'mon, think how many people we could get to come if they knew the famous Aeris Gainsborough was going to be performing?" Tseng pointed out. Yuffie shrugged.
"I don't think she's that good." Aeris gave her a look and she laughed, "Kidding! Come on Aeris, say yes."
"Well… I guess so."
"Now with a little less enthusiasm." Yuffie said.
"OK, fine! I'd be delighted. Over the moon."
"That's the spirit!" Yuffie said, elbowing her in the side. Unfortunately hitting Aeris' injured rib, causing her to cry out in pain and double over. Everyone looked at Yuffie accusingly. She shrugged sheepishly and ducked as Aeris punched at her head.
Aeris was at the café by 12:10 but Vincent and Reeve hadn't arrived yet. Tifa and Yuffie had Business Management and Cloud was catching up with some work in the library. Barret served her coffee and she looked at the blackboard with the lunch menu.
"Meeting Vincent?"
"Yeah, he should be here soon. He's got a hospital appointment." Aeris checked the piece of paper with the listings for the OMN. She was playing at 8:15. Barret looked down at the sheet.
"We're filling up faster every time."
"Is the bar having one tonight?"
"Yeah. But I got Tifa to go next door and see how many people have signed. Not half as many as we've got coming!" Barret said, grinning. Aeris laughed.
"You're a sneaky man."
"I love this café. I'm not going to let some bar run us down." Barret promised, turning to serve someone.
Vincent and Reeve arrived at 12:30.
"Sorry we're late. We got held up at the hospital." Vincent said. Aeris stared at his arm.
"What is that?"
On his broken left arm, instead of the cast that had been there that morning was a large metal contraption, consisting of wires and plates of metal. It came down to his hand where it separated into 3 separate pieces over his knuckles.
"They decided that with three breaks in the arm a cast wasn't going to be effective enough. So they gave me this brace. I'm not sure what it does exactly but from what I gather it takes the pressure of the breaks. So I can move it and everything. It's a new method, but they think it'll help my arm to heal quicker and better." Vincent said. He stretched his arm and winced slightly. "Still hurts a lot though."
Aeris ran her hands over the brace. It fitted directly onto his arm.
"How long do you have to wear it for?"
"Another month. But it means that I'll be able to use crutches and get rid of the wheelchair. I'm picking up the crutches tomorrow." Vincent said. Aeris smiled.
"It's kinda cool. Makes you look very tough." Vincent smiled slightly. Reeve grinned at them both.
"Well, I'm going to go and work on some stuff." Aeris caught sight of a plan bag in his hand and raised an eyebrow.
"You decided to go to the mall before going to the hospital?" Reeve flushed red and Vincent said quickly,
"No, we went after. Reeve needed something from the electronics store."
"Yeah… well, I'll see you guys later." He darted for the door. Aeris stared after him.
"OK. Guys are officially weird."
"This coming from the girl who gave Reeve a heart attack yesterday after you, Yuffie and Tifa played that little joke on us?" Vincent asked bluntly
"That wasn't weird, that was funny! Come on. What do you want for lunch?"
That night Aeris and Vincent arrived at the café at 7:30. The OMN didn't start until 8 but it was already filling out. Tifa had reserved them their usual table near the front. After a while Yuffie, Cloud and Reeve arrived too. Cloud and Yuffie examined Vincent's arm brace.
"It's cool. A little creepy, but cool." Yuffie said as Vincent bent his arm at the elbow, showing how the brace flexed with the muscle. The three edges over the fingers were quite sharp and Vincent explained that this was to support the hand.
Tifa finished serving a customer and came to sit with them just as Tseng came in with his guitar.
"Hey guys." He said, sitting down at the table with them. They looked at him in surprise and Aeris realized she hadn't explained.
"Oh, yeah, Tseng is playing the guitar for me since I can't." She said. That seemed to clear things up. However a few minutes later they were joined by Elena who was fuming.
"Hey El. Didn't know you were coming." Aeris said. "What's wrong?"
"That idiot, Reno! God, I hate him!" She hissed. They all stared at her. Tseng rolled his eyes.
"What did he do this time?"
"Well, Rufus called to say that he wasn't going out with Kelly what's-her-face and wanted to know if I wanted to go out again. But Reno got to the phone first and started yelling at him and stuff and telling him that I was too good for him…. Argh!" She buried her face in her hands. Aeris said,
"But it's true… you just said yesterday that you don't like him."
"I know, but I didn't want Reno to tell him!"
"So what did you do?" Yuffie asked.
"I yelled at Reno for a while and we started fighting and then I just stormed out and came here." Elena said miserably.
Aeris, Yuffie and Tifa all looked at each other, worried. This wasn't exactly working out the way they'd hoped. Tifa did the only thing she could. She gave Elena coffee and a big slice of chocolate cake.
The first performer was on at exactly 8. He was good too. After he had finished Barret waited for the applause to die down and then said,
"OK, our next performer is one you'll all recognize. A round of applause for Aeris Gainsborough please!"
The cheers were near-deafening as Aeris and Tseng finished their drinks quickly and headed up to the platform. Tseng sat down on one of the two stools as Aeris sat and said,
"Hi everybody! I'm Aeris and this is Tseng. He's lending me a hand because I broke mine." She held up her cast and got a ripple of appreciative laughter. "This song is for my best friend, Cloud Strife. I put him through a lot and he somehow manages to put up with me anyway."
Cloud waved and Aeris grinned.
"This is for you, Cloud." She cleared her throat.
"You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
When the road looks rough ahead
And you're miles and miles from your nice warm bed
You just remember what your old pal said
Boy, you've got a friend in me
Yeah, you've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
You've got troubles
And I've got them too
There isn't anything I wouldn't do for you
We stick together
See it through
Cos you've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
Some other folks might be a little smarter than I am
Big and stronger too
Maybe
But none of them will ever love you the way I do
It's me and you boy
And as the years go by
Our friendship will never die
You're gonna see it's our destiny
You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me."
Aeris smiled.
"Thank you." Tumultuous applause greeted them as they left the platform. Cloud beamed at Aeris across the table.
"OK, you have to do that again because that was too cool!" he said happily. Aeris laughed.
"I take it that was OK then?"
"You're the best, Aeris." Cloud said, grinning.
Yuffie was about to say something but stopped, looking at something behind Aeris and Elena. They turned and saw Reno, hands in his pockets, looking at Elena.
"Hey." He said quietly.
"Hey." She replied, also quietly. Something extremely unusual for both of them. Reno swallowed hard.
"Can… can I talk to you? Outside?" Elena nodded.
"Sure."
They got up and went outside. Instantly Yuffie, Aeris and Tifa started to push their way through the crowds, earning a few glares as there was someone performing. They managed to squeeze onto window seats and peered out at the pair.
"Can you hear what they're saying?" Tifa hissed.
"No." Aeris replied.
They were standing in the narrow street, talking, neither of them looking each other directly in the eye. Reno was explaining something, using wild hand gestures. Elena looked up sharply and replied. Reno ran his hands through his hair and tried to talk to her but she appeared to be talking very quickly and harshly. And then something happened that no one quite expected.
Apparently Reno had grown tired of her talking at him. He seized her by the shoulders, pulled her forwards and started to kiss her. This seemed to shock her into silence. After several moments he pulled away and stared down at her, apparently as shocked as she was. For a few seconds nothing happened. Then they launched at each other again, kissing like the world was about to end.
"About bloody time." Said a voice next to Aeris. She turned and saw Tseng, looking out of the window at his two friends with a knowing smile on his face.
Reno and Elena were completely oblivious to this. They were still kissing.
(A/N: OK, this chapter is a little longer than normal for two reasons. One – I had a lot to fit in and I just couldn't end it without patching up Reno and Elena. I just had to write it before my inspiration left me! Two – 56 is my lucky number and I therefore felt obliged to make this chapter a little bit special. I realise that 56 is an obscure number to have for a favourite and there IS a story behind it but I doubt anyone actually cares, so there ya go! If you ARE interested tell me so in a review! Lol, I'm so subtle. BTW, I know - three updates in quick succession? No, nothings wrong. I had the week off and felt rather inspired! Don't complain! Or if you're going to… leave a review! Again, see the subtlety? Love ya loads, Katie.)