Chapter 3

I made an abrupt stop as I entered Wall Market. I looked around for a moment, and then turned around to glance at Cloud.

He panted as he finally caught up with me. He glanced at the place in shock. "Aeris, do you know what they could do to you here?"

I grinned as he caught his breath. "C'mon, Cloud. You don't want Tifa waiting forever, do you?" I said walking towards Don Corneo's mansion. "Excuse me," I said to the guard blocking. "Um…did you see a cute girl come this way?"

The guard looked at me and smiled. "Hell yeah. She's in here, in Corneo's Mansion. Only women allowed though. Corneo's not into men," he said looking at Cloud.

I winked. "Can you wait for a moment? I'll be right back with a really cute friend with me," I said pulling Cloud's arm.

"What are you doing?" he demanded. "Let go of me, I'm gonna get Tifa myself."

I began to giggle. "Don't be so worried, Cloud. Besides, that Corneo guy isn't interested in men…so…" I couldn't finish my sentence, as I was overcome by giggles.

"But, Aeris, do you know what happens to young women at a place like this? Busting in would create a big commotion. But I don't want you going there alone…What's so funny?" Cloud asked, finally realizing my outburst of giggles.

I gasped for air, trying to stop laughing. "If you're so worried, you'll have to dress up as a girl," I finally said, following with more giggles.

Cloud's face dropped. "Me?! Aeris, are you crazy? There's no way I'm doing it!" he snapped with embarrassment.

I shrugged. "Alright, be that way. Then I'll just have to go myself," I said heading towards Don Corneo's mansion.

Cloud grasped my arm tightly. "You are not going in there alone. You have no idea what will happen to you if you go there alone," he scolded harshly.

I grinned. "Well then, we'll just have to find a way to make you beautiful," I said walking towards the dress shop.

Cloud groaned, and followed me. "I'm not going to like this. I'm not a cross–dresser. I don't do these things," he muttered to me.

I rolled my eyes and went to the counter. "Hey, you over there. Yeah you, I'd like you to make a dress for a friend of mine," I said to the man at the counter.

The man shrugged. "I can't."

Cloud frowned. "Why not?"

"I don't make clothes for men. And besides, it's my father who does the work, not me. He's over by at the restaurant if you're looking for him. Try and convince him for me if you could," he said.

I tugged on Cloud's arm. "C'mon, you're so slow," I growled walking out of the store without him.

We headed towards the restaurant, searching for the man's father. I spotted a man by the door, staring sulkily into his beer can. "Cloud, isn't that him?" I asked pointing at the man.

Cloud shrugged. "I guess. Let's go ask."

"Excuse me, sir," I said interrupting the man's thoughts. "Hi. Um, are you the dressmaker's father?" I asked politely.

The man looked at me. "Yeah, I am. But I'm not your father," he said to me.

"I didn't say that. I would like you to make a really cute dress for my friend. You see, he's always said that he wanted to feel like a woman for once before he died," I said, making up an excuse.

The man studied Cloud carefully. He then sighed. "Alright. But first I need to ask him what kind of dress he wants."

Cloud thought for a moment. "Uh…something's that soft and that shimmers," he answered hesitantly.

The man nodded. "Alright. I'll be at the dress shop if you need me. Why don't you two go look around for a while? Oh, if he wants to be a woman, then I suggest that he change his, uh, hairstyle."

Cloud looked up at his hair and frowned. "What's wrong with my hair?"

"A lot of things," I said dragging him towards a tent where they gave away wigs.

A muscular man came up to us and challenged Cloud to a squatting tournament. If Cloud could beat the man, then Cloud would win a wig.

I stood at the side and watched carefully. I smiled to myself as Cloud won the match.

Cloud just shrugged, and handed me a blonde wig.

I then led Cloud to the Honey Bee Inn, where Cloud's nightmare came true. As I waited outside, I heard Cloud shriek as girls began to put make-up on his face. When he came out, I hardly recognized him because of his "pretty" face.

After making one more stop for perfume and a tiara, Cloud and I finally made it back to the dress shop.

The man smiled at us. "Ah, you're back. That's good. Here, I just finished making it," he said handing a silk dress to Cloud. "I hope it suits you."

Cloud reluctantly took the dress from his hands and headed for the dressing room. "Uh…how do you put this on?" he asked me in a muffled voice.

I peeked through the curtains and saw him staring at it.

"Whoa what are you doing?"

I rolled my eyes and looked around the store. I waited patiently for Cloud to finish dressing up. The clock loudly and annoyingly ticked by, giving me a headache. I began to pace on the floor as I waited. After a long moment, Cloud finally emerged from the dressing room. I had a shocked expression on my face. "Cloud?! You look so cute!!" I said admiring Cloud's "beauty".

He had on a purple dress and a cute, blonde wig to match with it. His tiara glinted proudly as the lights bounced off it.

Cloud glared at me. "Shut up," he growled.

I looked around the shop again. "I think I'd like to get a dress also," I decided.

"Here, try this one!"

"No, this one!"

"How about this one right here?"

I shook my head to all the suggestions. I walked towards a rail full of hangers, and picked out a red, velvet dress. The rimming at the top was white, and there was a beautiful rose at the very middle. "I'll take this one," I said walking towards the dressing room. I popped my head back out before I closed the curtains. "No peeking!" I snapped closing the curtain behind me.

I easily slipped the dress on me, and loosened my braid into a ponytail. I then emerged from the dressing room, folding my other clothes, and tucking it inside my dress.

Cloud's jaw dropped as he saw me.

I frowned. "It's not polite to stare. And girls shouldn't keep their feet apart like that. Now, head up, and walk gracefully, Miss Cloud," I said walking in front of him.

Cloud sighed grumbling to himself, "How did I ever get in this mess?"

"Pretty girls shouldn't have manly voices either," I grumbled.

Cloud glared at me and said in a high-pitched voice, "Well excuse me!"

I walked back to the guard blocking our entrance to the mansion.

The guard's jaw dropped, as he saw the sight of me.

"Hey, I'm back from before. And here's my cute little friend," I said pointing towards Cloud.

Cloud blushed, as the guard howled fascination. "Damn your friend's HOT!" he exclaimed. "Here, you can go in," he said walking out of our way.

Cloud walked in first, then I followed.

We headed towards a dark room. As Cloud entered the room, a beautiful girl spotted him. Cloud instantly looked away, beet red.

I looked at him curiously. I then looked at the girl. "Tifa?" I said, unsure of myself.

"Yeah, and who are you?" she asked looking at me awkwardly.

I walked up to her with a smile on my face. "I'm Aeris. Cloud told me about you. He's really worried about your safety," I said introducing myself.

"He did? So I guess you're a friend of his," she told me returning the smile.

I began to laugh. "Poor Cloud, just standing in the corner while we talk about him," I said while laughing.

Tifa frowned at me. "Cloud? Where?"

I walked to the side so Tifa could look at Cloud.

"Cloud!" Tifa said as she recognized him. "Oh my gosh! Cloud!" she exclaimed as he turned around and blushed. "What are you doing in a dress? You actually look cute!"

"Shut up," Cloud mumbled with embarrassment.

I watched as Tifa suddenly turned her happy face into a serious one. "What happened to you? How did you survive?"

I turned around, plugging my ears. "I'll leave you two alone," I said with an evil grin on my face.

"W…w…what do you mean?!" she said bashfully. "Y…y…you must be mistaken. Cloud and I are just friends, nothing more!"

"Right," I said plugging my ears. But no matter how much I tried to block the sound out of my ears, I could hear their muffled voices.

"…I came here because I needed to find some things out about Shinra. I overheard some rumors about the Shinra dropping the sector seven plate. I wanted to find out if that was true," Tifa's muffled voice said.

After they both stopped talking, I let go of my ears. "I…uh…couldn't help overhearing, but I think your plan would probably work. You see, there are only three of us, and all three of us know what you want to do."

Tifa shook her head at me. "No, I couldn't allow that. It's too dangerous. I couldn't get you involved," she told me sternly.

"That's okay. I don't mind. Besides, I'm already involved in this. You can't ask me to back off now," I said convincingly.

Tifa thought for a moment. "Well, alright."

Before we could say anything more, a man interrupted us. "Girls, what are you doing down there? Come now, he's waiting."

All three of us formed a straight line going towards Don Corneo's chambers. When we got there, we formed a line in front of Don Corneo. Tifa was in the right side, Cloud in the middle, and me in the left side.

The fat pervert jumped out of his seat the minute he saw us. "Damn they're HOT! But I can only take one girl for the night." He got off the desk, and came towards us. He first looked closely at me, then at Tifa, and then at Cloud. He did that several times until he stopped at the very middle.

I gulped regrettably. ~What if he chose me? Then what am I going to do?~ I asked myself.

"I choose," he began. He then stuck out his foot at the left side, indicating me. "You, my pretty dear!"

I kept my face calm, as I walked towards him. But inside, I was about to scream as loud as I could.

Don looked at his little henchmen. "You can have the rest. They're both yours," he said taking my shoulder and leading me into his room.

He plopped himself onto his bed, while I sat on it with my back facing him. ~What am I going to do? What am I going to do?~ I thought in panic.

"You don't have to be shy with me, sweety," I heard Don's voice from behind me. "Why don't you come over here and gimmie a kiss."

"Not on your life," I muttered to myself.

"What was that, angel?"

"Uh…I said right you are," I lied with a big phony smile on my face.

Don frowned. "What's taking you so long? Come on, I can't wait for you forever. What's the matter, are you shy? Don't worry, I'll make the first move," he said coming closer to me.

I thought quickly. Swiftly turning around, I smiled at him. "No! I was…um…just warming up!" I said. ~Cloud, where are you? Tifa?~ I thought desperately.

Don grew impatient and was about to grab me to him. But just as he tried to do so, Cloud and Tifa burst through the door.

Don looked at them angrily. "What is going on here?!" he demanded forgetting about me.

"Shut up!" Cloud shouted going towards my side. "Aeris, are you alright?" he asked me.

I nodded with a sigh.

Tifa tossed me my metal staff with a grin. She then turned to Don. "Alright you perve! Answer me or else! If you don't…"

I put my right foot on his bed. "I'll tear you apart!"

Don's furious eyes changed to fear. "Oh please, don't hurt me. Please! I'll tell everything. Everything!"

Tifa's eyes were filled with fury. "Are the rumors true? Are the rumors of sector seven crashing true?" she demanded. "Talk! If you don't I'll smash you into pieces!"

Don backed away, beginning to sob. "Y…yes! But it wasn't my idea! I swear! It wasn't!" he cried out.

"So who's idea was it? Talk! If you don't…"

"I'll blow you up," Cloud said putting his right foot on Don's bed.

"It was…it was Heidegger from Shinra! He was the one who ordered me to do it! He paid me to do it! I swear!" he sobbed cowardly.

Cloud glanced at Tifa. "Alright, now that we've got it from his mouth, we have to warn the people at sector seven."

Tifa and I nodded, leaving Don's room. But before we could, Don stopped us.

"Just a second!"

"What?" Cloud said irritably.

"How do you think A guy like me would do after I've just blurted everything out to you like this?"

Cloud glared at him. "I don't give a s***," he answered.

"WRONG!!" Don pulled a lever next to him, making the floor under us give way.

I felt myself fall down, down, down…to a never-ending landing. Suddenly, I crashed onto the floor, in pain. I had no clue on where I fell, for when I crashed, I became unconscious.