Chapter 60: The Long Day Is Over
Feeling tired
By the fire
The long day is over
The wind is gone
Asleep at dawn
The embers burn on
With no reprise
The sun will rise
The long day is over
The long Day Is Over – Norah Jones
The next morning Aeris woke and smiled as she saw Vincent sleeping beside her. She glanced down at her left hand, just in case, and saw the ring glinting in the sunlight. An irrepressible smile crossed her face and she let out a light giggle before getting up and going to the shower.
Vincent was making breakfast when she had dressed and dried her hair. He smiled as he saw her.
"You look beautiful." She glanced down at the faded jeans and t-shirt and smiled.
"OK…"
"You always look beautiful." He explained, handing her a plate of toast and eggs, with tomato sauce on the side. She laughed.
"You know me too well."
They walked hand in hand to the café. Everyone else was already in there, along with the usual rush of morning caffeine addicts. Aeris waited by the counter until the rush had died down whilst Vincent joined Cloud, Yuffie and Reeve. Tifa smiled.
"What can I get you?"
"Two coffees. Oh, and I'll try one of those cake things." She said, pointing at a cake. Tifa laughed and poured out her coffee.
"So, what are you doing today?" Classes had finished now and they had the day free.
"Not much. Thought I might hang out with you guys. I'm meeting the Turks later. We're getting fitted out for the premiere today." Aeris replied.
They sat down at the table and began to chat about their summer plans.
"We've got to make sure we hang out before we all go our separate ways." Reeve said. Aeris nodded.
"I know, we can't go the whole summer without seeing each other!"
"Well, let's organise a few days to hang out throughout the summer." Tifa suggested.
They had been sat down for nearly an hour when Cloud noticed. He was sat next to Aeris and had looked down to pour some milk into his coffee when he noticed her hand.
"Aeris?"
"Yeah?" she said absently, involved in a conversation with Yuffie.
"Is that new?" He said, seizing her hand and holding it up to admire the ring. Aeris smiled simply. Cloud stared at her for a moment and turned to Tifa.
"Look at this!" She glanced across and shrieked.
"Oh my god! Is that… Are you…?"
Aeris and Vincent exchanged a smile and Aeris nodded.
"Yes. We are." Yuffie screamed, seizing her hand to examine the ring.
"Reeve, look!"
"I already knew." Reeve grinned. They all stared at him.
"You did?" Aeris asked. Vincent looked at her.
"You remember the day I got my arm brace and Reeve and I went to the mall afterwards? He was helping to pick out a ring."
"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU DIDN'T TELL ME!" Yuffie yelled at Reeve who looked quite frightened. Tifa beamed at Aeris and Vincent.
"I can't believe you guys are getting married!"
"We don't know when or anything. It's not like we're planning it for next week or something. This is more of a long term thing." Aeris explained. Tifa asked quickly,
"Can I be a bridesmaid? Oh, can I be Maid of Honour?"
"Hey, what about me?" Yuffie cried. Aeris stared at them both.
"Guys, did you not just hear what I said?"
"I know, but I want to clear it up!" Tifa explained. Yuffie nodded in agreement. Aeris sighed.
"Fine. But I really wanted Cloud to be my Maid of Honour."
"What!" Cloud, Tifa and Yuffie said in surprise.
Aeris laughed.
"Well, I've known him since forever and he's my best friend. Just because he's a guy…"
"I don't want to be a Maid of Honour!" Cloud exclaimed. Aeris smiled.
"Fine. I'm not making any decisions right now."
"What is everyone yelling about?" Barret said, coming out the kitchen. Tifa jumped to her feet and shouted,
"Aeris and Vincent are engaged!"
Every customer in the café looked over. Tifa smiled sheepishly as Barret's face cracked into a grin. He looked down at them in joy.
"That's great! Have you got coffee? Have some more coffee. Tifa, get them some more coffee!"
"Coffee. The solution to all of life's problems." Aeris said under her breath.
Aeris said goodbye at about 12 to catch the bus to the centre of Midgar. She was meeting the Turks at a building she hadn't been to and she didn't want to get lost.
The smile that had been fixed on her face since she left the café widened as she remembered her friend's reactions. She couldn't wait to tell Elena and the others.
She met Rude outside the building, coming from his car. He smiled.
"Hey. How are you?"
"I'm good. Got some great news yesterday." She smiled. He looked over the top of his sunglasses.
"Really?"
"Yeah, but I want to tell you all together."
"OK. Come on, let's see who's here."
Reno, Elena and Tseng were chatting with Mike when they went inside. Mike smiled at them.
"Hey guys. We were just discussing outfits. Do you want to go for the blue suits? Because Marie found this blue dress in the same colour which would look great on Elena. And she's got about fifty dresses for Aeris to try on!"
"Oh goody." Aeris laughed.
Mike left them in a lounge while he went to get Marie, the wardrobe manager. Rude looked at Aeris.
"So what's this news you've got for us?" He asked. Elena sat up in interest.
"News? Good or bad?"
"Good. Great." Aeris grinned. Elena laughed.
"Don't keep us in suspense."
Aeris grin widened and she held up her left hand. They stared at it for a moment and then Elena screamed. Since she was sitting next to Reno and he received the full blast, he winced in pain.
"Elena!"
"You're engaged!"
"Yes."
"When? How?" Elena cried, seizing her hand to examine the ring. Aeris wondered if everyone was going to do that.
"Well, Vincent asked me a while ago. When we were in Fort Condor. But we made it official last night."
"I'll bet you did." Reno said, winking. Elena turned, kicked him sharply and then turned back.
"Oh my god, that's so wonderful. You guys are made for each other. When is the wedding?"
"We haven't planned anything."
"Congratulations, Aeris." Tseng said warmly. Rude agreed and Reno, rubbing his leg in pain, said,
"Figured you two would end up getting married. Didn't realise it would be so soon though!"
Mike came back and looked around in confusion.
"I heard screaming."
"Aeris is getting married, Mike!" Elena said. Mike looked at Aeris for confirmation. She nodded, blushing. He smiled brightly.
"That's wonderful, Aeris!"
"I know." She laughed. Mike pulled out his mobile phone.
"I've got to tell Marlene! She'll be delighted!"
Aeris was reasonably sure that everyone in Midgar would know within the hour.
Mike really hadn't been exaggerating when he'd said that Marie had fifty dresses. Aeris tried on dresses of every colour, in every design imaginable. Reno, Rude, Tseng and Elena kept her amused by holding up scorecards on each dress.
They narrowed it down to five dresses. Aeris stared at them.
"I can't choose. I like them all."
"Go for the red one." Reno suggested. Elena elbowed him.
"Shut up. The blue one was best, Aeris."
"I like the green one." Tseng said. Aeris groaned.
"Gee, thanks for your help guys. OK, I'll go with the green one." Tseng smirked and Reno sulked. Elena glared at him.
"You only like the red one because its low cut."
"And that's a damn good reason to like it!" Reno protested. Aeris flushed and turned to thank Marie.
Vincent's graduation ceremony was the next day. They all went to see him. He was with his classmates, looking extremely serious. Aeris smiled at him and his expression softened slightly. When he was called up to receive his certificate, they all cheered as loudly as they possibly could. The ceremony was rather tedious but when it was finished Aeris rushed to Vincent.
"I can't believe you've finished! It's going to be so weird!"
"Nothing is going to change, Aeris." Vincent replied. Aeris shrugged.
"Maybe… but still!"
"Vincent Valentine?" They turned and saw a young man, with dark hair wearing a suit.
"Yes?" Vincent said, curiously.
"My name is Thomas Biggs. I'm from the Midgar Institution of Art. Your professor and I have been in contact for many years. The institute has been planning to do a display of promising artists and you were highly recommended. We had a look at your work and we'd like to do a display on your art."
Vincent's mouth fell open.
"A whole display? Just on my work?"
"Yes. We'd like you to think about it and contact us. It would take place some time this summer, for four weeks. It would be a wonderful opportunity for you to get feedback and to get some coverage in the art world." Biggs said, smiling. He handed Vincent a card. "Call us."
Vincent stared at the card in his hand as Biggs walked off. Aeris smiled at him.
"Vincent, that's amazing!"
"I can't believe it…" he said weakly. Cloud and Tifa came over and Aeris told them what had happened. Cloud grinned at him.
"Way to go, Vincent! You're heading straight for the top!"
"Congratulations Vincent! And what a day to get that on top of!" Tifa smiled. Vincent smiled slightly.
"It has been a good day."
"And it's about to get better." Aeris smiled. Vincent looked at her and she said,
"I got a call from Joseph Carter this morning. Palmer's going to pay Tifa, Yuffie and Reeve twenty-thousand each. Barret gets fifty thousand because his business suffered. You, me, James and Cloud each get one hundred and fifty thousand Gil each."
Cloud started to choke on his drink. Yuffie, Tifa, Vincent and Reeve all gaped at her.
"150,000? I get that for getting my head bashed in? Someone hand me a crowbar!" Cloud spluttered. Tifa said,
"That's… I'll be able to pay off all of my college debts before I even leave! I'll have enough to take up martial arts professionally! Dad will be able to fit up the café ten times over!"
Aeris smiled and looked up at Vincent.
"You'll be able to paint full time. We'll all be able to pay for our tuition fees with plenty left over. It's going to give us a head start on work after we leave. I'll be able to write songs, Yuffie can do whatever she wants; she won't need to go back to her father's business. Reeve could work on electronics; Cloud could get into the film business, if he gets some connections."
They all fell silent, considering the thousands of possibilities. Then Yuffie grinned.
"Plus we're rich!" Reeve laughed and hugged her. Tifa promptly kissed Cloud, a little passionately. Aeris sighed. Money did strange things to people. Cloud looked around,
"This is great though. We could do pretty much anything."
"Hey, do you know what I'm going to do? Give some money to the music department. You know they've been trying to get enough money to get some new instruments." Yuffie said, looking at Aeris. Tifa nodded.
"Yeah. And there's the Grandia Disease Trust Fund. I'm going to give some money to that."
"Me too." Cloud agreed. Reeve smiled,
"I don't really know any charities. But I'll find one and donate."
They looked at Aeris and Vincent. Vincent said,
"There's a theatre in Midgar that's going to close without funds. That's where I'm going to donate some money." Their eyes turned to Aeris. She considered.
"I've been thinking. You know than Open Mic Nights? Well… last time we had one there was a girl who spoke to me. She wanted to learn how to play an instrument but couldn't afford the tutorage. So I was going to see if Midgar Media Ltd would help to fund a free music school at the weekends. We could get students from the university to teach them and with this money we could afford instruments and a venue. I think that's what I want to do."
Cloud smiled.
"How did I know that this would involve music somehow?" Aeris laughed.
"Hey, it's me. It had to one way or another. But I would have loved the chance to go to a music school like that."
"That's a great idea, Aeris." Yuffie smiled. Reeve nodded and then looked at his watch.
"The graduation party is starting. Are we going?" Aeris looked up at Vincent. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
"I know this is the only one I'm getting, but I'd much rather get a coffee."
"I can handle that. Come on, let's go and gloat over our newfound fortunes." Yuffie smiled.
As they started towards the café, Aeris looked up at Vincent.
"This is going to be the best summer ever, isn't it?"
"It's starting to look that way." Vincent agreed.
Barret dropped a coffee pot when Aeris told him exactly how much he'd be getting.
"Fifty thousand? You're kidding me?"
"Nope." Aeris said, grinning at his reaction. Barret merely reached over the counter and grasped her in an enormous hug.
"That's incredible, Aeris! I can't believe it!"
"Join the club." Cloud piped up.
They sat around the table. Aeris looked around.
"I can't believe we're going to be apart this summer."
"It's gonna be weird." Cloud agreed. Yuffie pulled a face.
"An internship in Dad's business? Much rather be here."
"I'll come out for a couple of weeks. We'll be able to have some time together." Reeve told her. She smiled.
"That's something to look forward to!"
"I can't wait for my martial arts competition! We four can hook up in Wutai for a while." She glanced over at Aeris who smiled.
"Don't worry about us. We'll be fine. We've got the premiere, and Vincent's exhibition. Plus, Mike wants me to write some more songs. Apparently he's had a few requests for my stuff. And he said he wants me to sing some more songs as well."
"Aeris the album, coming to a store near you!" Yuffie laughed. Aeris shook her head, laughing.
When they returned to the flat that evening, Aeris felt exhausted. She started to brew herself a cup of tea. Vincent put his arms around her waist, burying his face in her hair.
"I love you, Aeris."
"I love you too." She replied, closing her eyes. Vincent kissed her neck softly.
"I'm so glad you said yes."
"I wouldn't have said anything else." She whispered. She turned and kissed him. He hugged her tightly and she smiled.
"You know what? I can't wait to get to our cottage."
"I know."
"But we did tell Mom and Dad we'd spend a couple of days with them first."
"We'll manage." Vincent smiled. Aeris kissed him again.
"You're the perfect boyfriend. Fiancé. Can I call you that now?"
"If you want to."
"Wow. Vincent Valentine, my fiancé."
She kissed him again and then gasped, stepping back. Vincent stared at her.
"What's wrong?"
"I didn't tell them! That we're engaged, I mean! I'd better call Mom; she'd kill me if I didn't tell her."
Vincent couldn't help smiling as Aeris dived for the phone.
(A/N: Chapter 60… my god. This is twice as long as my longest story. Thank you for all of the reviews because we've now reached 300 reviews! I couldn't believe it when I saw that! You guys rock the world. Sorry for the wait, I started a new story and got a little caught up in it. Plus, I was still trying to figure out what I wanted to happen in this chapter. But it's all sorted now and we can get moving on the plot. So Yay! Please leave a review. Love you all loads, Katie)