So sorry for the lateness of this chapter! -bows humbly- I'll try to be faster with the next one... and thank you so much for all the reviews! -bows again- They really make me try all the harder when writing...
What do I own? Nothing. Nada. Zilch. But I completely invented Cid's 'name'. He he he. Don't worry, I won't use it again. Ever. Unless I really need to. Hopefully I won't. Sorry if the text is all scrunched up together, I can't get it to obey, no matter what I try. Grr...
Haven't heard a beep of my beta in a while... drop me a line if you read this and are still interested? :)
Now, when this chapter starts, think of the music that always plays when you get to fly the Highwind! :D
Chapter twelve: This could be the start of something...
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Mountains, rivers, forests, deserts, everything was just where he liked them - far below him! Above him was only the blue sky, the few clouds that dared to interrupt this beautiful day with their presence, and the warm sun, gliding upwards to kiss the sky. To fly again was so perfect that Cid Highwind forgot all of his problems. It didn't matter that the world was dying, or that Shera and Marlene were held captive. He couldn't care less that Sephiroth had gone nuts and wanted to rule the world or something, or that the members of Avalanche were at a loss at what to do. It didn't even matter that he had missed his chance to go to space, or that the Highwind was still in Shin-Ra's hands.
All that there was, at that moment, was the Tiny Bronco, humming perfectly as they soared through the air towards Cosmo Canyon. Everything else could go to hell right now, Cid had his baby back and was satisfied.
Somewhere below him, the mechanic from Cosmo Canyon was driving back towards his home. Cid would arrive there hours before the man, even if he took his time with it.
But when he came nearer to the town he became more determined to reach it soon. Oh, he'd show off with the Bronco, make sure everyone would see it. Maybe fly around town a few times, but even though he loved the small plane, there were now more important things than getting it back. Hell, he'd never thought he'd see the day when he'd be more interested with the affairs of other people and the state of the world than his planes and the space. But right now, this stinking planet he'd so hoped to leave needed him. Yes, it needed even Circinus B. Highwind's help. That was odd. Even stranger was that he was ready and willing to do everything it took to help.
Why did he have to pick this moment to become so damn unselfish?!
"Good morning, Miss Shera. Marlene. Did you both sleep well?"
Shera looked up from the book she had been reading and Marlene smiled at the man before resuming her play. The room they were kept in at the Shin-Ra headquarters wasn't as bad as one might think when considering that they were held captive. But this man had taken care of it, made sure that the room was comfortable and warm, and that the two lacked nothing that he could bring them. They had food, spare clothes and blankets, a radio to listen to, books to read and toys to play with. Basically the only thing they lacked was their freedom.
"Yes, thank you. Good morning, Mister Reeve." Shera said and put the book down, smiling a bit as the man closed the door behind him and put the breakfast tray on the table.
"Please, just Reeve." He said and sat on the edge of Marlene's bed, looking down at the girl playing on the floor.
"Is there any news, Reeve?" Shera asked, catching his eyes as he looked up.
"Nothing out of the ordinary. They are all fine. Captain Highwind still hasn't returned to the Canyon. Please, eat your breakfast before it gets cold."
Shera and Marlene ate their breakfast quickly and quietly. Reeve sat with them, not saying anything but not wanting to leave, either. He felt at peace with them, although there was guilt mixed into it. They were prisoners here, the enemy, as Rufus put it, but Reeve preferred their company to anyone else's in the HQ. But people were already getting suspicious of him, he knew that they were watching his every move. Only here he could relax, but the more time he spent here, the more his co-workers watched him.
"Okay. He's off to take them breakfast. Let's do it." Reno muttered and stepped into the corridor after they couldn't hear Reeve's steps anymore. Elena nodded and followed as the redhead slid the master keycard in and opened the door to Reeve's office. He tsked when he thought of the horrible things that could happen if one of the master cards ever fell into the wrong hands, giving someone, say, like him, access to all the rooms and offices in the HQ, save for the President's private rooms and the laboratories. He slid the treasure into his pocket and motioned for Elena to get in. The blonde nodded and carried her equipment in. Reno checked the hallway once more before closing the door.
"We have ten minutes tops. No time to waste..."
Elena was already looking for a place to set the small camera in, and pulled a chair into the corner where it would show them all the monitors that showed what Cait Sith saw. While she hid it in the air vent Reno placed a few bugs and tapped the phone. It wasn't likely that the members of Avalanche or any other terrorist group were going to phone the head of urban development to chat, but when you worked for Shin-Ra you never knew. Reno was sure that his own phone was tapped. So was Rude's, of course (like he ever used it) and Elena's (who always used hers. He should know, he always spied on her mail, and the phone bill was astronomical. When did she have the time to talk so much?).
Even though they had to work quickly, the redhead kept glancing at the screens in front of him. Nothing seemed to be going on, the robot cat was still in Cosmo Canyon, inside one of the houses, watching the town from a window. Some people were moving around but Reno didn't recognize any of them. Members of the Avalanche must still be in bed, or plotting Shin-Ra's downfall somewhere more private.
"Ok, all done!" She let him know and jumped off the chair, putting it exactly where it had been. Reno looked at his watch and whistled approvingly.
"Six and a half minutes. That's pretty damn good. For a rookie. Ok, let's go. He usually stays there for ten minutes or so but let's not push our luck..." Reno stood up and checked that everything was as Reeve had left it or at least seemed like that.
"Yes sir!" Elena saluted and followed him out and back to their office. He left her to check on all the gimmicks and went to check on the lab assistant who had been bribed to be their new spy. The man could only be trusted until someone else paid him more, but even though Hojo was maybe the most suspicious bastard Reno had ever met, the Professor didn't seem too worried with the loyalties of his assistants in the HQ. Good for the Turks, bad for Hojo.
Zax had intended to join the others at the observatory, but the thought was lost when he watched Cloud twirl a sword around in the small bedchamber. It wasn't the same he'd bought for the blond ages ago, when they were going to rescue Vincent. No, Cloud had bought this one himself, just a moment ago. And he seemed to know how to use it.
The Soldier shook his head, turning his eyes away from the glint of the morning sun on the sharp blade. He was still confused about what Cloud had said last night, and again this morning, when Zax had returned home with breakfast. The blond was leaving to find the Temple of the Ancients, to search it for the Black Materia, which he was going to take to Sephiroth. Zax had heard the explanation twice now, but still didn't know what to say. He desperately wanted to talk about it with Aeris and her mother, ask them if they knew anything about it.
"You're going to... you don't even know where? Why?"
Cloud stopped practicing and lowered the weapon, turning his eyes to the Soldier. His mind was clearer than in a long while. He could actually think for himself again, even though the command to go and get that special materia wouldn't leave him in peace. It was so simple, why was Zax having such a hard time understanding him?
He put the sword on the bed and picked up the gun Chaos had given him. "I have to do this. Sephiroth told me to." He lifted the back of his shirt and hid the gun to the small of his back, held there by the waistband of his trousers.
"But... how? When did you speak with him? In Nibelheim?"
"No. Yesterday." Cloud pointed to his head, making Zax shake his.
"Maybe you dreamed it. You don't even know where this... 'temple' is. IF it even exists! I've never heard of it!"
Cloud frowned and turned to stare at the floor, blushing with annoyance. "It does. I know where it is. And I'm going."
A hand on his shoulder made Cloud look up to see Zax's smiling face looking down on him. The smile still wasn't what he knew it had once been, and now it was tainted further with a flash of worry in the violet eyes. "Cloud, I don't want you to go."
"...you can come with me. I'm sure Sephiroth won't mind." The blond suggested, picked up the sword again and headed towards the door. Zax stood still, shaking his head, but soon ran after him.
"Cloud, wait! Come on, wait just a few more days! At least until tomorrow! Please!"
He stopped at the door to see Cloud already start descending the ladder. His heart skipped a beat. He knew Cloud was stronger than he seemed, but he still felt dread every time the blond climbed one of the numerous ladders in the town. The Soldier swore quietly to himself and followed Cloud, forgetting to even close the door.
/Well? Have you reached him already?/
Jenova was getting impatient enough to be on the verge of rage, and Sephiroth was getting the migraine of the century. Again.
He believed that he had been successful in 'fixing' Cloud's mind. He couldn't say for sure, because he had apparently done it so well that the clone had not only blocked Jenova, Hojo and the shadow creature out, but him as well. He was not as used to visiting people's minds as Jenova was, so he didn't know how to find another way in, either.
"No, mother, I haven't..." he said between gritted teeth, for the umpteenth time, and repeated the end of the sentence as well "...but when I left him he was aware of what he needed to do."
/You have to find a way in, son! We have to be able to control him!/
The headache made him say it. If he would have been thinking clearly he wouldn't have let the words out of his mouth. "Why don't YOU find 'a way in', then?"
Her slap was mental, which made it worse than a real one. Sephiroth's ears rang from the sheer strength of it, and he saw two of everything for a moment. The ex-General of the whole Shin-Ra army sat down heavily on the ice-cold stone floor and covered his head with his arms, hoping that they'd protect him from her rage. Of course they didn't.
/You insolent child! How dare you speak to me, your MOTHER, that way?! Have I not given you life? Have I not given you strength, power and magic? Have I not taught you everything? Am I not giving you the world?! Is it too much to ask that you respect me, that you do something for ME?!/
Sephiroth had pressed his hands to his ears but it did nothing to stop her words from entering his mind. He squeezed his eyes shut tight and saw bright lights when the migraine got worse.
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean it! But I can't get into his mind again! Just let me rest for a while, please, I'll try again later! I'm sorry!" The first words had come out as a shout, but his voice had broken somewhere around the fourth word, and the hoarse, high voice had sounded much more like the voice of the child which he had never had a chance to be than of the man who he had thought he was now. But it worked. It was unintentional, and he felt ashamed for showing such weakness. But it worked, somehow it awakened a motherly instinct or something in her, and Jenova stopped her raging intrusion upon his mind.
/All right. I am sorry, son, I sometimes forget that you are not as strong as I am. Rest. But keep in mind that we have to keep a hold on the puppet, or it might cut its strings and turn upon us. But rest now./ With that, she left his mind, and Sephiroth slumped down on the ground, shivering and relieved. He could ignore the coldness and hardness of the ground, all he needed was to close his eyes and rest. Just for a moment. Rest. And not to dream of what it would be like if he had ignored her five years ago.
Aeris still sat beside Vincent's bed. She had dozed for a few moments every now and then, and was trying to rub the stiffness out of her neck while guarding his sleep. She wished that there would be a way for her to help the man, but to do that she'd need to know so much more about him. Why was he so closed from the world, so sad, almost hostile towards everyone? Had Hojo done something so awful to him, or had Vincent himself made mistakes that he still regretted too much to care for anything else? He didn't really seem the type to talk about what was bothering him, or about anything, come to think of it. He seemed almost prepared to die, or to spend the rest of his existence alone. She wished that she could do something, but feared that there was nothing she could do unless he wanted to be helped.
Still, she managed to pull a genuine smile on her face when the man on the bed woke up.
"Ah, good morning, Vincent!"
"...it's morning already?" He didn't seem to be too happy about it, but Aeris nodded.
"Yes. The sun's been up for a while now, it really is a beautiful day outside. If you're feeling up to it, I can get you something to eat."
"No thank you. But I'd like some water."
"Coming right up!" She smiled and stood, stretching a bit to get the sleep out of her body.
"And... could you get me some clothes, as well..." Vincent muttered, fighting back a blush. He was wearing a pair of shorts and the blanket covered only his legs now, leaving his chest and arms naked, the scars on them for anyone to see.
"I'll see what I can do!" She promised and turned to smile at him one more time before leaving the room. The ex-Turk closed his eyes again and sighed.
All conversation ended in the room when Aeris opened the door. Once it was closed again, her father came closer and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"Good morning, dear. Is he awake yet?"
"Yes, I promised to bring him water and clothes. Good morning, everyone."
Her parents, Elder Bugenhagen and almost all members of the Avalanche were in the room, looking at her and especially at the door behind her. Only Yuffie was missing, and Cid, who hadn't yet returned. She looked for them but found that Zax and Cloud weren't there either. "Something going on?"
Barret nodded when no one else said anything. "Yeah. Cid's coming today, he just phoned me. They fixed the plane. So we're gonna meet when he gets here an' figure out what to do next, and do it."
"I suppose we're going after Sephiroth and Jenova?" She flinched slightly when the latter name made both her parents shiver.
"She is still not completely a part of this world. She will try to live again through him, one way or another. And that would mean the end to all life on this planet. As much as I detest killing anything that lives, it's the only way to be safely rid of her. To destroy her completely. And him, as well." Ifalna had stepped out from her husband's side, addressing them all, assuring them of what had to be done. "If she perseveres, even in the form she is in now, her existence will keep the Planet from healing itself."
Everyone nodded their agreements, even Cait Sith's mog bobbed its head up and down.
"So where do we start looking?" Tifa asked, twisting her hands nervously. "We suspected the Northern Crater earlier, should we start there?"
"It is where Jenova originally landed, so she's probably the strongest there." Ifalna confirmed their suspicions.
"Didn't Zax say he thinks that Cloud can sense Sephiroth somehow?" the dark-haired girl pointed out.
"Yeah, but the weirdo's still out of it..." the gun-armed man answered.
"Oh, he woke last night. So we can ask him what he thinks." Aeris said, but even her smile faltered when the leader of Avalanche gave her a look that didn't actually radiate trust for her belief in the clone.
"Even so, there's still the problem of gettin' there. We'll see when Cid gets back." Barret muttered. In the following silence they could all hear a quiet buzzing sound that became louder and louder.
"Hey you guys! He's here!" Yuffie's loud voice carried even through the closed door. Tifa, who was closest, opened the door and they could see the small airplane flying in circles above them, lower and lower. The ninja girl was standing outside the observatory, jumping up and down and waving her hands.
"He'll have to land it in the valley..." Professor Gast suspected when they all hurried outside to watch the show.
Cid was apparently having fun flying again. He was going in circles around the observatory, sometimes so close that it almost deafened them. He flew the Tiny Bronco in hoops, upside down and spiraled it down towards the valley's floor, only to pull it up just before crashing to the rocks.
"Show-off!" Yuffie screamed when the Bronco flew just above their heads and finally turned to land. The ninja was first on the ladder, and the rest of Avalanche followed her. Aeris asked for her mother to take to Vincent what he had asked just before following her friends.
Reno snapped out of his daze when his pager went off, silencing the room and earning him angry glares from half the board members. The Turk snatched the device from his belt and silenced it, reading the short message from the screen.
Bingo.
"Uh, sir?" he leaned over to whisper to the President's ear. "We might have something on Avalanche. May I be excused?"
Rufus waved his hand absent-mindedly, dismissing him. The redhead almost danced when he left the room, feeling the envious stares of Heidegger and Palmer on his back. He was free and they had to stay! Ha ha!
Sometimes he and Rude paged each other, if one was in a board meeting or in some other painful place. No one questioned them when they got beeped away, and they happily abused it. Elena only did it when there was work involved. Still, it was better than listening to endless complaints about small budgets. Even though he had learned to doze eyes open and standing, the voices still bothered him. Ear plugs, that was the answer. But then he might just continue sleeping when the meeting was over, and blow his cover. Why did things have to be so damn hard?
Elena almost had her nose pressed to the screen when he reached their office. Even though Reeve was probably contemplating suicide in the conference room, Cait Sith operated on some sort of auto-pilot, and judging from the quick movements in the smaller screen which showed on their spy-TV, something was happening.
"I think Highwind is returning." She explained simply and pressed a few keys in the keyboard which made the camera zoom in on the TV's in Reeve's office. Reno grunted, moved a pile of folders (they were labeled Turk candidates, he leafed through them almost unconsciously and realized that Elena was actually going through the cadets in the Soldier-program to find new Turks!) to a nearby chair and sat on the table's edge, stealing a donut from a plate next to a mug of cold coffee.
"So?"
"So, they're going to decide what to do next! Should we let the President know?"
"Nah, it can wait until the meeting's over. I think Heidi and Palmy deserve all the senseless torture they're getting..." Reno muttered with a sadistic grin and leaned over her shoulder.
Zax and Cloud had stopped to stare at the show as well. The blond had paled considerably just watching the small plane, and even the Soldier's stomach had lurched when he remembered the trip to the reactor at Mt. Nibel and the crash-landing into the sea. But when the Bronco disappeared from their sight to land, Cloud took off towards the gate again, and Zax was busy trying to stop him.
"Cloud, come on! Wait just until Cid gets back! I wanna talk to him some, and then I'll go with you, ok? Just an hour or two. Hey, I wanna go with you!"
Maybe it was his words, or their desperate tone, or the fact that he had caught Cloud's arm and anchored his feet firmly to the ground, but the blond finally stopped and turned to him.
"All right, I'll wait. But I have to get going soon."
The members of Avalanche came out to the large plateau soon after them, and Zax went to talk with them, dragging Cloud along. The blond and his sword got more than one suspicious look from them.
"Looks like he got the thing working!" The Soldier said as a hello. Barret nodded and kept his gaze on Cloud's sword even though he spoke to Zax.
"Yeah, ya took the words from my mouth." Cloud glared at him for that, and the dark man turned to Zax. "We'll figure out what to do next as soon as Cid gets here. You two are welcome to join us."
"Great, thanks. We'll do that." Zax promised, ignoring Cloud who was trying to tug his arm free.
"I can't wait that long, I have to go!" the blond argued, glaring at the Soldier.
"You promised to wait until I've talked with Cid. This won't take too long."
"Where are you going, Cloud?" Aeris asked.
"That's actually what I want to talk to you about." Zax said before Cloud could answer. "Do you know anything about the Temple of the Ancients?"
The flower girl frowned and nodded slowly. "Yes. Mother would know more, but I do know something. Why do you ask? You're not going to try and find it?" She turned to Cloud who nodded solemnly. "But why? No one is even supposed to know about it."
"I need to go there," was the only answer Cloud would give. Aeris looked at Zax who shrugged.
"Maybe we ought to talk with your mom first."
Cloud groaned and tugged his arm violently, almost making the Soldier lose his grip. "Zax, you can talk to anyone as much as you like, but I have to go now. Get it?!"
His angry words seemed to unnerve the others who were paying more attention to their conversation than to Cid who was already shouting something from halfway up the stairs. Zax seemed trustworthy enough, but they didn't know what to think of the blond. Only yesterday he had been near catatonic, and now fully awake, aware of everything, seemingly sane but nervous. And strong, seeing that Zax was having problems keeping him still. The Soldier smiled, trying to calm them down, but frowned the next second when Cloud almost slipped from his grasp. He pulled the blond into a tight bear-hug, and held on.
"Zax! Let me go!" Cloud growled and struggled, but in vain.
"Hey what's this, a parade to welcome me back? Gee, I figured you guys'd miss me, but this much? Aww, I'm touched!" Cid's half laughing, half sarcastic voice made them all turn to see the pilot at the top of the stairs, leaning on his spear, grinning like mad.
"In your dreams, old man!" Yuffie answered but still rushed over to hug him. Cid pushed her away after a moment and held out his hand. The ninja sighed and returned the three materia back to their owner.
"The Bronco's working like a dream!" Cid told them as he walked towards the group, swinging his spear casually to his shoulder. He grinned and pulled out a cigarette. "I couldn't get all the parts she needed, but she'll fly perfectly for a while now. As soon as we hit a bigger city, I'm gonna take care of those, too, and then she'll be as good as new! So, what's happened here?"
The members of Avalanche glanced quickly at each other, then at Zax and Cloud, and turned to Barret. The gun-armed man shrugged one shoulder.
"The Turk's up, an' so's he," he pointed at Cloud over his shoulder with a thumb, "an' we decided to head to the Northern Crater. Now we just need to figure out how."
"Simple." Cid said and shrugged, turning to blow the smoke from his cigarette to Yuffie's face, making the girl cough and back away before she got near his materia again. "We got the Tiny Bronco, we take her to Junon, or where ever those Shin-Ra bastards are keeping my Highwind, get her and ZOOOM! Fly to the Crater in a jiffy."
"Yeah but we can't all fit in the Bronco..." Zax pointed out, remembering how tight it had been last time. He was still holding Cloud tightly, and now the blond seemed to finally lose his temper. He stomped his foot on the ground and not-so-accidentally on Zax's toes as well.
"Zax! Let me go NOW! I am not getting on that plane EVER again, I'm going to the Temple, and you better decide fast if you're coming or not!" Then he kicked the Soldier's ankle roughly, realizing that the steel caps on the boots covered the toes from stomping on them. Zax yelped but held on.
The others had stepped away from the livid blond, but Cid leaned closer, suddenly serious. "Yo, kid! Earth to Cloud!"
"What?!" Cloud glared at the pilot, although the pained faces Zax made behind him took some credibility out of his rage.
"The Temple? You're not, by any chance, talkin' about the Temple of the Ancients?"
"How do you know about it?" Aeris asked, annoyed that the thing her mother had told her to keep secret seemed to be common knowledge among those who shouldn't have even heard of it.
"The weaponsmith who took care of the Bronco used to have this thing that's supposed to be a key to the place. He didn't really believe it, but if the place's for real, hell, maybe the thing is, too."
Aeris paled. "The... the Keystone? Where... where is it? Does he still have it?"
"No, he said he sold it to the guy from the Gold Saucer, Dio. The guy wanted it for his collection or something. So the Temple's real? And the stone, too?" Cid had leaned curiously towards the flower girl, and the rest were watching her as well, following the new turn the conversation had taken. Aeris breathed deep and closed her eyes for a moment.
"Yes. it's real. All of it. But it's supposed to be a secret, so that no one who would abuse what's being held there would find out about it."
A silence followed, until Zax broke it hesitantly. "Um. Let me guess. What's in there... it would be a really, really, really bad idea to let Seph have it right now, right?"
"Yes. A very bad idea." Aeris confirmed, blinked, and turned to Cloud who stared straight back. "Oh no..."
"Sephiroth wants it. I have to go and get it. Now." The blond said quietly but clearly.
"You can't! It would mean the end! He could destroy us all with it!"
"What? What's in there?" Yuffie asked for everyone who wasn't exactly following the conversation anymore, which was pretty much everyone.
"...the Black Materia..."
"...Mister Valentine? Are you awake?"
Vincent opened his eyes when the new yet familiar voice spoke from the door, and turned to see Professor Gast's wife. Aeris' mother. She looked very much like her daughter, or should it be the other way around? What did it matter? "Yes."
He closed his eyes again when she walked into the room, leaving the door slightly open. Apparently she didn't trust him as much as her daughter did.
"I brought you some water, and clothes. Are you well enough to sit up?"
She might not trust him, but that didn't stop her from being kind and gentle with him. Vincent opened his eyes again to see her leaning over him, looking at him a bit worriedly.
"...I think so."
He found that he had enough strength to sit up easily, and even to get dressed. The warm clothes drove the chillness of the stone-walled room away, and he felt good enough to even stand and walk. But he remained sitting, cradling his left arm to his chest instinctively. It had hurt so much to move it before that he couldn't get used to the fact that there was nothing wrong with it anymore. Still, he reached out his right hand when she offered him the glass of water.
"Thank you." He muttered when she took the empty glass away, to place it on a nearby table. The ex-Turk took a good look around, now that he could see more of the room than the ceiling.
It was some sort of a laboratory, but a far cry from the cold and hostile place that was Hojo's kingdom. The stone walls all around made the room cold, but the warm colours of the stone and the wooden furniture, not to mention the few potted plants, made it seem almost like someone's home. There were no windows, but light flooded in through the open door now, and the woman was lighting a few candles here and there, enough to give light but not to make the room painfully bright. Vincent was thankful for that and, in spite of himself, started to think that these people really weren't just waiting to stab him in the back. At least not right now. Could he actually relax here?
"Is there anything else you need?" Her question brought him back to reality. Now that he was warm and well rested, he was actually starting to feel a bit hungry. But he didn't want to eat, not now.
"No thank you. You have been kind to me." ...why did he say that? Both Aeris and her mother seemed to have a way to make him say strange things, just to make them happy.
Ifalna did smile at him, although more shyly than her daughter. She lowered her eyes and even blushed slightly, if Vincent's eyes didn't deceive him. "Oh, it's nothing. But let me know if there's anything you need. I'll be right outside."
He nodded and she turned to leave, but hesitated. Vincent felt cold again, expecting her to turn around and hurl some insults at him. She did turn, but only came back to the side of the bed and leaned closer, smiling enigmatically.
"Would you do something for me, please?"
A bit at a loss of what to do or say, Vincent nodded. "...Sure. How may I help you?"
"When you leave... please, keep an eye on Aeris. She's a good girl, but doesn't always remember to take care of herself. Anyone else, just not herself."
He stared at her for a long moment, puzzled, and shook his head. "I am sorry. I don't think I can do that. I doubt that your daughter and I will ever travel together."
She just smiled that same smile again and stood back up. "Just keep your promise, Mister Valentine..." she said and left the room, leaving the door a bit open. Vincent stared after her and shook his head slowly.
Back in Midgar, Reno and Elena pulled back from the screen, turned to each other and grinned.
"Methinks we just earned ourselves a big, fat bonus, baby!" Reno said and they high fived.
"Don't call me baby ever again or I'll break your legs, Reno."
"Whatever you say, baby... hey! Yeowtch!"
-
A.N: Circinus: (latin skillsaw, compass) Circle, a constellation in the southern sky.
Next chapter it's bye-bye, Cosmo Canyon! I'm as eager as Cloud to get out of there, and into some action! ;) This chapter was a bit shattered, but I had to get all the pieces to their places. Hope it wasn't too bad...
In other news, I'm supposed to graduate in a few months, so I might not have much time to write in the near future. And since I don't want to end up giving you people shit, the next chapters may take a while longer. But I'm not giving up on this story, it's fun to write and I'm curious as to where it's going... it won't tell me...
Thank you for reading! Reviews, as always, loved and adored!