A very long chapter….go make some popcorn….
Chapter 19
Vincent, Celes, Cyan, and Locke sat in a tent in the Returner's camp. A few other members stood around the tent as well. It was getting dark so everyone prepared for the mission to infiltrate the Empires camp.
"….and this point in the center of the camp is where the information tent would be. All battle plans and mission information would be stored there" said Celes as she pointed to a map on the floor.
Locke stood up to make some remarks.
"Ok Vincent you're going in with me and Cyan. I'm glad we met you because we need a marksman on our side if things get out of hand. Now Celes you're going to stay behind on this one. We can't risk them recognizing you.
"I understand" said Celes
"Good. Celes I want you and everyone else to start packing up and move everything north.
"Why?" asked Celes.
"Well Setzer will land soon approximately ten miles north with his airship. Once we get the information we need we are going to have to get out of here. Chances are if they catch us or if they even find out we've been snooping around then they are going to start searching the area. We don't want to be sitting around if they do" said Locke
"I understand. Everyone let's begin packing up we're moving north to meet Setzer" said Celes.
Everyone left the tent and Celes along with the other Returners began dismantling tents and packing up equipment. Locke, Cyan, and Vincent walked south toward the enemy encampment. They passed through the thick bushes of the heavily wooded area as they prepared themselves.
"Vincent did you ever see a girl in Square City that has green hair, pretty nice looking and well…she's part esper?" asked Locke.
'No I can't say that I've seen anyone like that. She's part Esper? I didn't know that was possible" said Vincent.
"Her name's Terra. She was being used by the Empire for her magical abilities. She escaped a few weeks ago and stayed with us for a very short while then she flew off"
"What happened?" asked Vincent.
"She transformed into her Esper form and flew off. We guessed that maybe she went to Square City since it was sort of in that direction" said Locke.
"I've been wandering for a while. Chances are if she went to Square City then it was after I had already left" said Vincent.
"Oh…ok then" said Locke.
The three walked on in silence for a bit then Vincent asked a question.
"We know where to find the information but how are we going to go about this?" asked Vincent.
"Well first I'm going to score us some uniforms then we're going to work from there.
"Sir Locke is an expert in the art of thievery" added Cyan.
"I'm a treasure hunter! Anyway get low guys" said Locke lowering his voice.
The three of them had come to the edge of the valley and were now crouching behind some tall grasses. They could see the enemy camp from there. The base seemed to have a lot less soldiers than it did earlier because apparently the bulk of the troops had gone on some sort of field exercise.
"Let's get closer. Be careful coming down this slope" said Locke.
The three of them began carefully stepping down the slope until they were not far from the edge of the Empire's camp. The three of them still hid behind some tall grasses.
"There's our first two victim's right there" whispered Locke as he pointed.
Walking toward the outskirts of camp were two soldiers dressed in the brown uniform and wearing the brown helmets. They walked toward the edge of the camp and sat down on a very large rock. They were about ten feet away from Locke, Cyan, and Vincent but their backs were to them. Locke gave a nod to Cyan and Vincent and they prepared to grab them but Locke decided to wait when he heard the two soldiers talking.
"Dang Biggs I'm so tired of being out here in the middle of nowhere" said the soldier sitting on the right.
"Wedge I know exactly what you mean. I've been bored ever since we came here" said the soldier sitting on the left named Biggs.
"Gravel constantly stays in my boots…" said Wedge taking his right boot off and shaking several stones out of it.
"Well we finally got the equipment from Shinra. With the Exit materia and beacons we'll be in Square City quicker than you can say Shoopuf" said Biggs.
Locke, Cyan, and Vincent looked at each other and continued to listen closely.
"Wow if all the other countries hated us before they are definitely going to be pissed when we take Square City hostage with all the government leaders" said Wedge.
Locke, Cyan, and Vincent looked at each other in shock.
"Scoundrels…" said Cyan angrily.
"So that's what this is about…"said Locke.
"The Exit materia…" thought Vincent as he looked at his own Exit materia that he had equipped.
"Biggs did you hear something?" asked Wedge as he stood up.
"Yeah I thought I heard something too" said Biggs standing up.
Wedge and Biggs held their rifles and began walking around a bit. They got closer to Locke, Cyan, and Vincent's location.
"1…2….3" counted Locke
On three Locke, Cyan, and Vincent grabbed Biggs and Wedge quicker than you could say…."Shoopuf" and pulled them into the tall grass. All one could hear was scuffling and yelling in the grass.
"Hey let go of that! Give back my clothes!" yelled Biggs.
"Ow hey! How'd you take my clothes off in one grab?" yelled Wedge.
"Knock 'em out!" yelled Locke.
-THUMP THUMP-
The loud thumping was probably Cyan knocking Biggs out with the hilt of sword and Vincent cracking Wedge of the head with the butt of a rifle. After a few moments Locke and Cyan walked out of the leaves dressed in the brown military uniform and holding their rifles
"Kind of tight in the crotch but it'll do" said Locke tugging on his pants.
"Splendid show Sir Locke" said Cyan straightening his helmet.
"Locke, how did you snatch their clothes off of them in one grab like that?" asked Vincent.
"Sir Locke thou art an expert thief!" said Cyan.
"Treasure Hunter….ok Vincent wait here and we'll get you a uniform too" said Locke.
"Alright" said Vincent hiding in the grass again.
Cyan and Locke walked toward the edge of the camp to a small tent. In the distance Vincent could vaguely hear some yelling.
"Hey my clothes!...how'd you take them off me so quick? Ow stop!"
-THUMP-
Vincent could see Cyan poking his head out of the tent to see if the coast was clear. He looked back in the tent and called for Locke. Soon Locke came dragging an unconscious soldier in nothing but his underwear back to where Vincent was and Cyan held the soldiers uniform and boots in his arms.
"Sir Vincent" said Cyan handing Vincent the clothing.
"Ok" Vincent took the clothing then began putting them on and Locke put the soldier beside Biggs and Wedge.
After a few minutes Vincent was finally done putting his uniform on. He left his trench coat and shotgun on the ground and kept his pistol along with the rifle that belonged to the soldier.
"Ok we're finally ready to go" said Locke.
Locke, Cyan, and Vincent made their way back into camp. As they walked they shouldered their rifles trying to fit in as much as possible. There were a few soldiers that were left behind and the whole atmosphere of the base was very relaxed now. A few soldiers sat around and talked others played card games to pass the time. As the three of them passed by a large tent they looked inside. Ultros a very large purple octopus sat there with another strange creature. This creature was about the same size as Ultros and it some ways it resembled a large pink hippopotamus. Its mouth was more in the shape of a funnel though.
" ….and then when I grabbed the Princess this idiot SeeD comes and gets in my way! Then this other kid chops off my tentacle with a katana and the Princess pulls out a crossbow from God knows where and starts shooting me with it! I tell you Chupon I never had a job go that badly" said Ultros retelling the story of when he was defeated by Zell, Crono, and Marle.
"What the?...ok moving right along" said Locke moving away from that tent.
"They must be mercenaries" said Vincent
"A foul looking duo I shall say" said Cyan.
"We need to head over there" said Locke pointing toward the center of the camp.
This was the tent that Celes believed battle plans and information would be stored. This area seemed to be the most crowded as there were still quite a few soldiers around that area.
"We need a distraction" said Locke.
"What dost thou suggest?" said Cyan.
"I have just the thing…" said Vincent.
Vincent pulled out a left over grenade.
"Excellent I knew you'd be a big help. How many do you have?" asked Locke.
"I have three left"
"Perfect! Give us both one. Ok here's the plan. Cyan you walk to the edge of camp west of here. I'll go north and Vincent you go east. Ok once we get there set off the grenades and start yelling "We're under attack!" that'll get all the troops scattered off in different directions and hopefully we can get into that tent.
Vincent and Cyan agreed to the plan and they set off to their positions'. After a few minutes each of them pulled the pin on their grenades and ran off.
-BOOM BOOM BOOM-
The three explosions went off almost simultaneously.
"We're under attack on the north side!" yelled Locke
"We're under attack on the east side!" yelled Vincent
"Thou art…I mean we're under attack on the west side!" yelled Cyan.
With all the explosions and yelling the Empire troops started to run off in all different directions all of them were very confused. In the confusion the three of them were able to slip back toward the center tent. Every one was running about so no one noticed them as they slipped inside.
"Phew! Let's hurry before they find out it was a false alarm" said Locke.
Inside the tent there were several computer terminals on tables and there were some folders and documents as well.
Locke quickly ran to one of the terminals and Vincent and Cyan began looking through the documents.
"I suppose we grab anything we can find?" asked Vincent.
"Yeah I'll see if I can download their mission information" said Locke typing frantically on the terminal.
Cyan grabbed a folder and began putting as many documents as he could in it. Vincent looked at a few papers. One of them really caught his attention.
"Exit Materia….instant teleportation…..through beacons" read Vincent.
"Bingo! I'm downloading the whole damn thing!" said Locke excitedly.
"Sir Locke do hurry I think those scoundrels shall return soon" said Cyan.
"I recognize some of these things. This is most definitely Shinra technology" said Vincent.
"Ok just a few more seconds….alright I got it let's get out of here now!" said Locke ejecting a disk from the terminal.
The three of them made their way out of the tent. A few troops were still running around and they could hear some of them saying things like "Are we under attack?" "I don't see anyone out there"
The three of them managed to make their way across the camp in the confusion and made it back to where they left their clothes.
"Grab our stuff and we'll change in the woods" said Locke.
They grabbed their stuff that was still near the unconscious soldiers and made their way up the slope and into the woods. After they had gone a good distance into the woods they began taking off the uniforms and putting on their regular clothes.
"Man I'm glad to get those off they were kinda itchy" said Locke straightening his headband.
"Where to now?" asked Vincent.
"We have to head north now. I'm sure by now Celes and the others have met up with Setzer. We have to hurry to his airship now" said Locke.
Locke, Vincent, and Cyan hurried through the woods. Cyan held the folder full of documents in his hand and Locke held on to the disk. Vincent began to feel strange. He felt some of his super keen sense come back to him and he felt as if someone or something was watching them.
He said nothing for the moment and continued north with the others. After over an half an hour of walking the three of them finally came to the edge of the woods and in the distance on a beach there was a large airship there. The Moon was high in the atmosphere lighting up the pitch black sky along with a few stars.
"There's Setzer and the others let's get going" said Locke.
Vincent knew something was wrong and he sensed something flying toward Locke.
"Locke look out!" Vincent pulled out his shotgun and with blinding speed held the butt of it in front of Locke.
A shuriken landed in the shotgun which would have probably killed Locke if Vincent hadn't stopped it.
"What in the…?" stuttered Locke looking at the shuriken.
"It's him…go on this is my fight…" said Vincent.
"Any battle thou shalt fight is one that I shall fight Sir Vincent" said Cyan holding his broad sword.
"It's important that you get all that information to the airship! I don't want anything to happen to it….like I said this is my fight…" said Vincent readying his pistol.
"…Vincent we'll swing the airship around for you if we have to" said Locke.
Vincent didn't say a word he just stared into the dark woods.
"C'mon Cyan" said Locke.
Both of them were reluctant to leave Vincent but they figured it was something that he had to do alone. They began to run up the beach toward the airship.
"Come out I know you're there" said Vincent.
There was silence in the woods. Then after a few moments Shadow emerged. He was alone. Interceptor was no where around.
"Come to finish the job for Shinra?" asked Vincent.
"I told you this time would be personal. I'm no longer working for Shinra" said Shadow as he kept walking closer.
"They dropped you like they did me?...where's your dog this time?" asked Vincent.
"He isn't here…don't concern yourself with him…worry about your own life!"
Shadow hurled a weapon called the Nage Gama at Vincent which is a long chain with a sharp sickle at the end. The sharp sickle sped toward Vincent. Vincent leapt to the right and the sickle grazed him cutting a bit of his coat. Shadow then hurled the other end of the nage gama at Vincent. The chain wrapped around Vincent's shotgun. Shadow pulled trying to snatch the shotgun out of Vincent's hand. For a few moments the two tugged back and forth but Vincent would not give up. Vincent managed to aim the shotgun toward the center of the chain and fired a round. This split the nage gama in two making it useless.
Shadow immediately dropped the weapon then began hurling shurikens at Vincent as he leapt toward him. Vincent began jumping back and managed to dodge the shurikens. Now both of them were on the beach. Shadow leapt again into the air. He pulled out a katana and prepared to overhead strike Vincent. Vincent pointed his shotgun into the air and fired. Shadow vanished and a log appeared.
"That move again" thought Vincent recognizing the move from his last encounter with Shadow. He turned around quickly and there was Shadow ready to stab him in the back. Shadow thrust his sword at Vincent's midsection Vincent leapt to his right to avoid it.
Meanwhile on the deck of the Airship Locke, Cyan, Celes, and Setzer a man with long white hair and coat watched.
"I shall not stand by idly and watch this! I shall assist Sir Vincent with this knave!" yelled Cyan.
"Wait…is that Shadow?" asked Locke.
Setzer looked through some binoculars.
"Hmm…yeah that is Shadow" said Setzer.
"Ok come on Cyan I'm going down" said Locke.
Locke and Cyan prepared to leave the airship.
Shadow struck at Vincent over head with his katana and Vincent blocked holding his shotgun horizontally. The two stood there in a stalemate. Suddenly Vincent remembered a materia he hadn't used.
"Now's a good a time as any to use the materia I got from those chocobo's" thought Vincent.
Vincent pushed Shadow back a bit to get enough time to cast the spell.
"Choco Mog"
Vincent vanished which confused Shadow for a second. He heard a rumbling sound like a stampede was coming toward him. He looked up and saw a giant chocobo with a giant moogle riding on its back. The chocobo ran directly for Shadow.
"Huh?"
Shadow tried to get out of the way but it was too late. The giant chocobo and moogle crashed into Shadow very hard knocking him to the ground. The moogle fell of the chocobo and sat on the ground dizzy then the chocobo picked the moogle up with its mouth and vanished. Vincent was now back and standing over Shadow who was knocked out.
"Interesting materia those chocobo's have…" thought Vincent.
"What hell kind of summon was that?" yelled Locke as he and Cyan ran up.
"It was a gift" said Vincent.
Cyan and Locke ran up and looked at Shadow.
"Yep that's Shadow alright" said Locke.
"That's his name?" asked Vincent.
"Yep that's Shadow. He'll do a job for anyone if they pay him enough. He's done jobs for us too. They say he'll cut his on mothers throat for a nickel…" said Locke looking down on him.
"He was hired by Shinra to kill me before. Now he's after me for personal reasons" said Vincent.
"Wow you must have really ticked him off. It's not like Shadow to go after people for no money at all"
"Sir Locke what shall we do with Shadow?" asked Cyan.
"Hmm…let's get all his weapons and stuff first then take him on board. Maybe he'll calm down and we could get him to help us out if we pay him enough. He's a great fighter and besides if he does try anything Vincent could use that Choco thingy on him again hahaah" laughed Locke.
Cyan and Locke prepared to take Shadows belongings and take him on board.
"You can go on aboard Vincent" said Locke.
Vincent began walking along the beach toward the airship. He kept thinking about the documents he saw in the Shinra camp.
"What could they be up to now?" thought Vincent.
(Next Scene)
The train carrying the SOLDIER recruits and officers stopped at Shinra headquarters the next morning. Sephiroth stepped out of the front part of the train. The engineer was sprawled across the ground in a pool of blood. Sephiroth was the only one alive on that train. Everyone else were either sprawled on the floor or sitting in their seats dead. The cold Sephiroth didn't give the bodies a second look as he exited the train and made his way toward Shinra Headquarters. A few Shinra employees were entering the building that morning. Sephiroth walked in amongst them as if nothing was wrong at all.
The lobby area of the Shinra building was very large. There was a reception desk right at the front and two large stairways that lead to a showroom of Shinra's finest line of automobiles. Toward the back was a large elevator. Sephiroth walked toward it and no one in the area was suspicious of him. He was a high ranking Shinra officer after all.
Two Shinra elite guard's dressed in a red uniform saluted him as he walked into the elevator with a few other Shinra employees.
"59th floor" said Sephiroth to a young woman that stood close to the elevator pad.
The elevator took a while to get to the 59th floor and soon everyone had gotten off on other floors and Sephiroth was the only one left. All floors past 59 were off limits to everyone except the highest ranking Shinra executives and officers. A separate elevator had to be taken to get to the upper levels. Sephiroth got off at the 59th floor and walked toward another elevator. This elevator was made of glass and it was actually on the outside of the building.
Two Shinra Elite guards stood in front of the elevator and saluted Sephiroth as he entered the glass elevator. You could see almost all of Square City through the glass but Sephiroth gave it no second look. He immediately placed a keycard into a panel that stood in the center of the elevator. He pressed the number 68 and was taken to the 68th floor. As the glass elevator ascended Sephiroth kept a cold expressionless look on his face. The glass elevator finally stopped at the 68th floor which opened out into another reception area.
A few male and female employees carried on with their usual business and none paid Sephiroth much attention. They were not suspicious of him. To the right of the elevator were two large stair cases. Sephiroth walked to them and went up to the very top of the building. The stairs led straight into a vast room which was the Presidents office. The President stood by his desk talking to another executive. This other executive was a short, fat, man with a tan suit and a thinning hair line.
"Sir, will you provide funding for the space program once our plans are complete?" asked the man.
"Palmer once our plans are complete our wildest dreams will come true. Why would we need to look to the stars when everything we could ever want will be right here?" asked President Shinra. The President noticed Sephiroth walking into the room.
"Sephiroth you're back! I trust the SOLDIER recruitment went well? We'll need SOLDIER and yourself in the next few weeks if our long term goals are to succeed. Palmer go and fetch Sephiroth and myself a cup of coffee will you? Thanks" said the President not even waiting for a reply from Palmer. Palmer slunk away angrily.
"I was the head of the Space program now I'm an errand boy…eww there's Sephiroth…he always did give me the willies…" said Palmer under his breath as he left the room.
Sephiroth said nothing as he stood there. The President got behind his large desk and sat down.
"Is there something you need to discuss with me?" asked the President.
Sephiroth was quiet for a few moments. He looked to the ground then he looked up with a rather evil grin on his face.
"Yes…actually there is something I wanted to discuss with you…"
"Well go ahead" said the President.
Sephiroth took a few more steps toward the desk.
"This ultimate weapon that is being constructed is to the north?" asked Sephiroth.
"Why yes it is being constructed on Mt. Gagazet because of its altitude and strong energies that it puts out" said the President.
Sephiroth began to laugh wildly.
"What's so funny?" asked the President very confused.
"Some things never change….you're still clueless…" said Sephiroth grinning sinisterly.
"Excuse me?" the President was really confused now by Sephiroth's behavior.
"Once again you have no idea the things with which you delve. You see only power and money and never fully understand anything at all…you were like that before and here you are in the exact same situation…your story hasn't changed at all" said Sephiroth walking a little closer.
"Sephiroth…are you alri…urk!"
Before the president could finish speaking Sephiroth had driven his sword through him with blinding speed. The President looked down in shock as he watched his own blood pour.
"Sephi…roth…why…" said the President weakly.
"Why? Hmmpf. The prey never looks at its predator and asks why it kills it. Its simply knows that that's the way things are dear President" Sephiroth pulled the sword out of the President and he slumped over the desk still barely alive.
"That is the way you've thought for a long time now. You've been the predator and preyed upon many to build this company. That is how you were there and it's how you are in this place" said Sephiroth holding his sword at his side. The strange thing about his sword is that not a spot of blood was on it.
Palmer came back with some coffee and was horrified to see Sephiroth standing over the Presidents body. He hid behind a pillar so Sephiroth wouldn't notice him.
"…but then you have no idea what I'm talking about do you? You and everyone else on this planet have no idea besides me…and him I suspect…I of course will succeed this time where I failed before…you on the other hand will suffer the same fate you suffered before…"
Sephiroth stabbed the Masumune through the President's back delivering the death blow.
"…to have me end your pathetic life…"
Sephiroth pulled his sword out of the President's back and turned around. He saw Palmer hiding behind a column…it's hard for a fat man to conceal himself behind a column when he is actually fatter than the column he is hiding behind…
"You come here" said Sephiroth. Palmer stepped out a bit.
"Ahh please don't kill me! I didn't see anything. I'll give you anything you want! Here have some coffee on me!" said Palmer who was holding two cups of coffee. He was shaking so badly with fear that he spilled most of the coffee on his suit and then it was literally "on him".
"Are there any helicopters on the pad?" asked Sephiroth.
"Oh yes! Yes sir there surely are some helicopters! I'll get you one right away!" yelled Palmer still shaking frantically.
Sephiroth walked past Palmer without giving him a second look. Soon he had exited the room. Palmer fell to his knees still trembling and still holding the now empty coffee cups.
"I'm still alive? Am I dead? Did he kill me? Did I die so quickly that I didn't even know it?" Palmer talked to himself frantically. It took him several minutes to compose himself.
(Next Scene)
Around lunchtime long black limousine left Cid's machine shop. In the back seat a lovely princess, her red haired boyfriend, and Lucca sat and enjoyed the ride through the streets of Square City.
"It's so good to see both of you I didn't think you'd be here so soon" said Lucca.
"Yeah I figured we should come early and have a little fun in the city before all the boring stuff starts. Zell is going to flip when he sees us. I didn't tell him we were going to be here so soon either. I'm going to call him and see what he's up to" said Marle.
(Next Scene)
"Ha! First Triple Triad now Ehrgeiz you can't take me at anything Zell!" shouted Yuffie.
Yuffie and Zell spent their lunch break at an arcade. The two of them were playing a fighter brawler game called Ehrgeiz.
"Ok I'm going to pick Godhand this time so you're going down!" said Zell.
"Hmpf…go ahead and pick him I'm ready for you with Yoko!"
-Ring Ring-
"Hold on I have a call" said Zell reaching into his pocket and pulling out his cell phone.
"Ok they butt kicking can wait until after you get off the phone…" said Yuffie.
"Hello….I'm at the arcade on 8th street….what you're here already?...great I'll see you soon! Bye" said Zell hanging up the phone.
"Who was that?" asked Yuffie.
"My friends from out of town are here! Want to come meet them?"
"Oh I see you're just trying to get out of losing to me again" said Yuffie jokingly.
"Heh ok we'll have a rematch later" laughed Zell.
Zell and Yuffie left the arcade and stood out on the sidewalk.
"They are my friends from Guardia" said Zell looking up and down the street.
"Oh she's the princess right?" asked Yuffie.
"Yeah" said Zell still looking around.
Yuffie put her head down a bit.
"I bet she's really pretty huh?" asked Yuffie.
"Yeah she is why do you ask?" asked Zell.
"…So you…like her then?" asked Yuffie still with her head down.
"Oh it's not like that at all. Marle and I are good friends. I couldn't even see myself dating her. She's in love with this guy Crono you'll get to meet him too" said Zell.
"Oh ok" said Yuffie finally looking up and smiling.
Soon the long black limousine pulled up to the curb and stopped. A man wearing a black suit got out of the passenger side and walked to the back and opened the door.
"Her majesty requests your company" said the man bowing a bit.
"Wow" thought Yuffie.
Yuffie went in first and then Zell. The back of the limousine was so spacious. There were two long seats on the right and left side and one in the middle. There was a small bar with drinks and a large television screen that hung down in the center. Zell and Yuffie sat next to each other on the center seat.
"Hey Zell! Oh you must be Yuffie!" smiled Marle.
"Wow you know me?" asked Yuffie surprised.
"Yes! Zell told me a lot about you" smiled Marle.
"He did?"
"Yeah he can't stop talking about you" laughed Marle.
Yuffie looked over at Zell and he was blushing.
"Ok well Zell and Yuffie this is Lucca" said Marle.
"Hi there" said Lucca.
"Hey" said Yuffie.
"Hey I saw you on TV" said Zell.
"Oh yeah not one of my finest moments" said Lucca.
"Nah you did fine" said Zell.
"Oh and Yuffie this is Crono" continued Marle.
"Hi" said Yuffie.
Crono didn't say anything. He just nodded his head and smiled.
"He doesn't say much" whispered Zell to Yuffie.
"Hey Crono how you been bud?" asked Zell.
Crono nodded his head again.
"He says he's been fine" said Marle.
"How does she know that?" thought Yuffie.
"Well now that we're all here let's have fun!" said Marle.
"Well there's girl I kinda know named Tifa and she's opening this club tonight a lot of people are going to be there" said Zell.
"Alright then that sounds great to me what about everyone else?" asked Marle.
(Next Scene)
"Ok man thanks for the ride" said Zack.
"Thanks a lot" said Cloud.
Zack, Cloud, and Red XIII stood on the sidewalk in front of Cloud's apartment and thanked the man for giving them a ride all the way back to Square City.
"Hey it's no problem just wanted to help you all out. You all take care. Take care of Nanaki" said the man as he drove off.
"Wow it feels good to be home" said Cloud.
"-Phew-Man the first thing we need to do is get out of these nasty Shinra clothes and take a shower"
"I have a few things you could probably wear…at least until you get your own stuff" said Cloud.
"Is it always this cool here?" asked Red XIII sitting down on his hind legs.
"Yeah well it can get a little breezy here sometimes" said Cloud.
"Aww cheer up Red we're going to take good care of you" smiled Zack.
Just then some guy walked past them and looked at Red XIII.
"Whoa dude that's an awesome dog you have there! Wow his tail even lights up" said the guy.
"I'm not a dog…" said Red XIII
"Holy Shit you taught him to speak! Dude that's so freakin' awesome!"
"-sigh-" Red XIII
"Hey get out of here pal" said Zack shooing the guy away.
"Ok ok I'm going…" said the man walking away.
"This is going to be an enjoyable experience…" said Red XIII
Cloud, Zack, and Red XIII entered the apartment building and Tifa was right there on her way out the door.
"Cloud!" said Tifa as she ran up and hugged him. She almost knocked him down she tackled him so hard.
"Whoa! Hey Tifa what's up? You're going to have to forgive me if I smell kinda…well…" said Cloud.
"Cloud you look like…like…" said Tifa trying to find a way to describe it.
"Like we've been dragged through the wilderness and almost eaten by fiends" said Zack.
"Hey Tifa this is Zack and this is Red XIII" said Cloud.
"Hi" said Zack.
"Hello" said Red XIII
Tifa was not surprised that Red XIII could talk. She hadn't even heard of the Qu race before working with Quina so she knew that there were several different types of people around Gaia that she had never heard of.
"Hi, it's nice to meet you both. Cloud are you alright? What happened?" asked Tifa with a very concerned look on her face.
"Well…it's a long story. I didn't make SOLDIER…and well…like I said it's a long story and I'll have to tell you it later. What are you up to now?" asked Cloud.
"I'm going to my club. Tifa's 7th Heaven opens tonight!" said Tifa very excited.
"Wow! I'm glad it's finally all done" said Cloud.
"Can you come tonight? I'd really like for you to be there. If you're not tired or something…" said Tifa.
"A club? Oh yeah I'm going! I definitely need some fun after all this we've been through. Red XIII you're coming too!" said Zack patting Red on the back.
"Oh goody…" said Red XIII not really all that enthused
"Well yeah I wouldn't want to miss your opening night. We all just have to get cleaned up and stuff" said Cloud.
"Alright then I'll see you there. Just about everyone we know is coming. All the SeeD's, Aeris, I haven't talked to Yuna in a while but she should know about it and probably bring some people. It's going to be great! I have to run now" said Tifa.
Tifa gave Cloud one last big hug before she left.
"Aeris…" thought Zack at the mention of Aeris's name.
(Next Scene)
At her penthouse Lenne lied down on her bed. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed a few numbers.
-Ring Ring-
"Hello" answered Tidus on the other end.
"Hey Tidus what's up? It's Lenne"
"Oh hey how are you?" asked Tidus.
"I'm doing fine. You've seen the commercial right?" asked Lenne.
"Oh yeah I've seen it. I thought it was great" said Tidus.
"Yeah I hear Oaka's sales have gone up quickly just in the past few days…looks like we make a great team" laughed Lenne.
Tidus just laughed on the other end.
"Say Tidus what are you up to tonight?" asked Lenne.
"Well I'm supposed to be going with Yuna to the grand opening of this new club a friend of hers has now Tifa's 7th heaven. I hear a lot of people are going to be there. Should be fun" said Tidus.
"Hmm sounds great….I think I'll try to see if I can swing by there later tonight…just to see how it is" said Lenne.
"Great then you could meet Yuna!" said Lenne.
"Yes…that'd be nice…I'll see you then Tidus" said Lenne.
"Ok great. See you later Lenne" said Tidus.
Lenne hung up the phone. She got up from her bed room and walked over to the closet which was a large walk in type. A smile crept across her face as she slid back the door and walked inside the closet. There were lots of expensive clothes and shoes aligning both sides of the wall. Lenne walked to the back of the closet where a small shelf was. On the shelf were two candles and a lighter. Lenne picked up the lighter and lit the two candles which lit up the wall.
"Tidus…." whispered Lenne with a big grin on her face.
The now illuminated wall was filled with pictures of Tidus. They were pictures of Tidus from various magazines. Lenne looked up at them and smiled.
"I get to see you tonight…"
(Next Scene)
Tifa walked into 7th Heaven. Every one of her employees were there and ready to go.
"Hey Tifa it's finally time" said Kou.
"Yes! I'm so excited! I've wanted this forever. How is everything coming along?"
"Kupo! Echidna's making the drinks, Dominique's serving them, me and my buddies are helping Quina cook…and make sure he/she doesn't eat anything, DJ Hype is ready to rock and Kou, Sion, and Volt are ready to bust some heads at the door if anyone tries to get cute!" said Mog jumping up and down.
"Mish Tifaa. I am ready to paarrtyy yesh?" said DJ Hype the world's best ….and possibly only Hypello disk jockey.
DJ Hype wore a backwards cap and a large gold chain around his neck. Needless to say he looked rather ridiculous but he seemed happy.
"DJ Hype where did you get those clothes?" laughed Tifa.
"Kou gotsh them for meee. Ish important to look zee part yesh?" asked DJ Hype.
"Yep it's important to look the part. You look great DJ Hype. Everyone everything is looking wonderful!" said Tifa looking around at the club.
The club was really large and it had pretty much everything. When first walking in the door to the left were several tables and chairs and booths were aligned along the far left wall. The walls in the club were a sky blue color and several clouds were painted to make it look like you were actually in the sky or in heaven. The color of the chairs and booths were a light blue color as well.
The right side of the club was the dance floor. Above it were several multi color lights that moved back and forth on the ceiling. Tifa had also invested in a machine that poured out this fog like substance at certain times which would cover the dance floor and make it look like a big puffy cloud. She couldn't wait to test this out and see how everyone would react to it. On the far right wall of the club were a stage and a large set of turntables with some very large speakers beside them.
Straight across from the entrance was the bar and it took up most of the wall and at that very moment Echidna and Dominique were wiping down the bar and straightening several of the bar stools that were in front of it. To the right of that bar was a door and back there was the kitchen where Quina would fix his or her excellent meals. Quina walked into the kitchen carrying a large pan and a few moogles walked in behind him.
After taking this all in Tifa felt like her heart was going to burst from joy. This was her dream and it seemed to finally be coming true. In a few more hours her dream would finally be realized.
(Next Scene a few hours later)
Riku, Vivi, Sora, Kairi, Garnet and Zidane walked down the street toward Tifa's 7th heaven. It was dark out now and up the street they could see a large crowd gathered outside of the club.
"Wow do you think we'll even get to get in there? Maybe we should have come earlier?" questioned Kairi.
"Earlier? No way we're too cool to get here on time! In fact we're too cool to stand in line! I think Rikku is already in there" said Riku.
"Sion works here now Kairi he'll let us in the club" said Sora.
"Oh yeah that's right I forgot" said Kairi.
"I kinda know Tifa too….well I know Yuna and she's friends with Tifa so I guess you could say I'm a friend of a friend" said Garnet.
"…and I'm dating Yuna's cousin so I'm a friend of a friend of a friend that's dating a friends cousin…or something like that….now I'm confused…" said Riku
"Yeah you kind of confused me too on that one" said Vivi.
"Ok everyone has some sort of connection. Then looks like no waiting in line for us" said Zidane.
The group walked up the street to the large crowd gathered around the door. Zidane held Garnets hand and they giggled. This was their first time out as a couple. At the door Sion and Kou tried to keep the crowd at bay. The door of the club itself looked like a golden gate which was to symbolize a gate to heaven.
"Whoa this crowd is getting fierce" said Kou to Sion.
"I know…Everyone hold on and be patient" said Sion to the crowd
"Do you not know who I am? I am Leblanc of Leblanc boutique. I should be on the VIP list" said Leblanc who was right at the front of the line with her two goons Ormi and Logos. She held a fan in her right hand and waved it in front of her face
"Boss judging by the attire of these two…ruffians…I doubt they know what a boutique is…" said Logos coldly.
"Did he just insult us?" asked Kou.
"I think so" said Sion
"Bwah ha ha ha I can't wait to get in this club. Look at all the fine ladies" said Ormi trying to peep into the club and sure enough there were several attractive women dancing inside and having a great time
"We can let a few more people inside now" said Tifa as she walked up behind Sion and Kou.
Leblanc, Ormi and Logos jaw dropped when they saw Tifa. This was the waitress that they had ridiculed and mistreated time and time again at her old job. Never in a million years did they think that Tifa would own a club one day. Tifa noticed them right away and smiled brightly. The satisfaction she felt was intoxicating.
"These three…no they can't come into this club ever they don't know how to treat people. The name of this club is 7th heaven we can't have people that raise hell coming in here" said Tifa giggling.
"We most certainly can't you three have to go" said Sion.
"You heard the "ruffian" you have just been rejected at heavens gate" said Kou smugly and folding his arms.
"Well I never!" said Leblanc as she stormed off back through the crowd. Logos followed her and Ormi slunk off as well.
"Aww and all those fine dames in there too…" said Ormi.
"Tifa!" yelled Garnet
"Sion! yelled Sora.
They had been trying to get their attention for a while now from the back of the crowd.
"Oh that's my cousin back there" said Sion.
"I know that girl too. Hey Garnet come on up bring your friends!" yelled Tifa.
"Sweet!" said Riku
The group pushed their way through the crowd to get to the front. They heard a few groans and grunts from the people they cut in line.
"Hey Sora what's up?" asked Sion
"Hey how's the new job coming?" asked Sora.
"It's great" said Sion.
"I didn't think you would remember me. I'm glad your dream finally came true" smiled Garnet.
"Of course Yuna introduced us over a year ago but I never forget anyone. You were really nice go on in and have some fun" said Tifa giving Garnet a hug.
They walked into the club and the place was packed. On the left people were enjoying some meals, laughing, and talking. On the right the dance floor was packed and DJ Hype the worlds greatest and only Hypello DJ was keeping everyone on the dance floor with the best music.
"Letsh get this paarrtay started yesh?" said DJ Hype.
-Fricka Fricka Fricka-
DJ Hype began scratching on the turntable over a pulse pounding beat which kept the crowd going wild. Down at the bar several people sat, drank, and laughed. This looked like it would be a really fun night indeed.
"Oh there's Rikku I'll see you guys in a bit" said Riku rushing off to meet Rikku.
"Wow he's really changed a lot" said Vivi.
"Yep it's a good change though" said Garnet
"Hey I remember you! Come dance with me you're so cute!" said this random blonde girl that approached Vivi. This same girl grabbed Vivi and made him dance with her all night the last time they went to Fate.
"Oh no not again…AHH!" yelled Vivi as the girl grabbed him and pulled him into the crowd of dancers.
"…well I guess that's it for Vivi for the night" said Zidane.
"Lucky him" smiled Garnet.
"Let's go Sora" said Kairi pulling Sora off into the dance floor.
Garnet and Zidane walked toward the bar to chat for a bit..
(Next Scene)
Riku approached the booth where Yuna, Tidus, Rikku, and Paine were sitting. Yuna and Tidus were on the left and Rikku and Paine were on the right.
"Riku!" shouted Rikku. She got out of the booth and hugged him.
"Hey what's up?" asked Riku.
"Nothing much just glad you came. I want to introduce you to my friends" said Rikku excitedly. She turned around and began introducing.
"Everyone this is Riku. Riku this is my cousin Yuna and her boyfriend Tidus and this is Paine" said Rikku.
"Hi there" smiled Yuna.
"Hey man how's it going" said Tidus.
"Hey nice to meet you" said Paine.
"Hey it's good to meet you all too" said Riku.
"Let's go dance" giggled Rikku.
"Ok let's go" said Riku as the two of them went off to the dance floor.
"Want to go dance now?" asked Tidus
"Sure. Paine are you going to be alright?" asked Yuna.
"Don't worry about me you two lovebirds go have fun" said Paine as she took a sip of a drink.
"All right then" said Yuna as she and Tidus left to go dance.
Paine sat there and took a few more sips of her drink.
"Hey I noticed you sitting here alone…mind if I join you?"
Paine looked up and saw Nida the SeeD that took Quistis to the SeeD ball.
"Yeah you can if you want" said Paine.
Nida sat across from her.
"I'm Nida" Nida gave a nice smile and held his hand out.
"I'm Paine" Paine actually gave a sincere smile and shook his hand.
(Next Scene)
Irvine and Selphie stepped off the dance floor to take a break for a bit and Tifa walked by.
"Wow this place is so awesome Tifa!" said Selphie bouncing around excitedly
"I know it's great" said Irvine.
"Thank's so much I'm so happy that everyone is having a great time" smiled Tifa.
Then Rinoa, Squall, and Quistis walked up.
"Tifa I'm sooo happy for you!" said Quistis as she gave Tifa a hug.
"There are so many people here enjoying themselves" said Rinoa.
"Yeah this must have taken a lot of work to put together" said Squall.
"Have you tried any of the food yet? It's delicious. It's prepared by our very own Qu chef" said Tifa.
Aeris walked out of a crowd of people and turned back to yell at someone.
"What's wrong?" asked Tifa.
"Somebody grabbed my butt" laughed Aeris.
Everyone giggled a bit.
"Tifa did you know that Princess Marle is over there? She's over there with Zell and a few other people" said Aeris.
"Wow we have royalty here" laughed Tifa.
"Well we're going to try some of the food" said Rinoa.
Rinoa, Selphie, Quistis, Squall and Irvine went to go find a table. Aeris and Tifa stood around a bit.
"It seems everything is going great" said Aeris.
"Yeah. Aeris Cloud is back in town" said Tifa.
"Really? How'd everything go with the SOLDIER try outs?" asked Aeris.
"…He didn't make it" said Tifa sadly.
"Aww"
"He brought back some guy named Zack and someone called Red XIII. Red is some creature that I've never seen before" said Tifa.
"Did you say Zack?" asked Aeris
"Yeah I think his name was Zack…" said Tifa.
When Tifa said this Cloud and Zack had finally stepped into the club. Cloud and Zack had freshened up and Cloud leant Zack some clothes. Soon Red XIII trotted out of a crowd looking back to growl at someone.
"Someone grabbed my tail" said Red XIII.
Cloud, Zack, and Red XIII walked up to Tifa and Aeris.
"Hey glad to see you could make it" smiled Tifa.
"Yeah this place is looking great Tifa. Hey Aeris how you been? This is Red XIII. He is from Cosmo Canyon and this is…"
"Zack…" said Aeris as she finished Cloud's sentence.
"Hey Aeris. How have you been?" asked Zack.
"Wow you two know each other?" asked Cloud.
"Yeah, we're old friends" said Zack.
"Friends…hmpf…" said Aeris walking away.
"Hey Aeris wait up" said Zack following behind her.
"What was that all about?" asked Tifa.
"I don't know" said Cloud.
"Chance's are they were more than just friends" said Red XIII
"Maybe…hey Cloud go find our SeeD friends they are all here. I have to go check on some things I'll meet up with you later" said Tifa.
"Alright then" said Cloud.
Tifa left to go make sure everything was going smoothly. Cloud and Red XIII stood there for a moment.
"Guess it's just you and me Red XIII" said Cloud.
"Are clubs always this noisy and crowded?" asked Red XIII
"Yes most of the time they are. Want to go meet a few of my friends?" asked Cloud.
"Alright" said Red XIII walking behind Cloud.
(Next Scene)
DJ Hype was still spinning records and the dance floor stayed packed with people. In the middle of it all was Yuffie, Zell, Lucca, Crono, and Marle. There was so many people that it felt like they were going to be crushed in the center of the dance floor.
"This is crazy look at all these people!" yelled Marle.
"I know…oh no I think someone's sweat just dripped in my mouth!" yelled Lucca trying to frantically wipe her mouth.
The others just laughed. Even Crono seemed to be having a great time even though he didn't say much.
"Who'd have thought a Hypello would make such a great DJ?" asked Yuffie
"Yeah I know" said Zell. Zell stayed near Yuffie and kept people that wanted to push and shove from bumping into her.
Yuffie felt so glad that she had met Zell. He had turned out to be such a very good friend and even the people he would introduce her too were very nice as well. She smiled brightly at him and seemed to really be enjoying herself. Marle smiled as she saw the two having fun.
"I said you'd find a nice girl Zell" thought Marle.
The multicolored lights flickered and flashed above the dance floor but soon one of them burst and caught on fire. DJ Hype looked up and saw the small fire above the dance floor.
"The Roof…The Roof…The Roof ish on fire!" yelled DJ Hype pointing to the ceiling.
The crowded responded.
"WE DON'T NEED NO WATER LET THE MOTHER…"
"No! The roof ish really on fire yesh?" yelled the DJ.
Volt then came pushing his way through the crowd carrying a fire extinguisher. He aimed it up at the ceiling and sprayed it which quickly put the small fire out.
"Carry on" said Volt as he finished spraying and walked away.
"I'm getting a little tired I need to sit down for a minute" said Lucca.
"Ok let's try to get out of here" said Zell.
They pushed their way through the crowd and finally got out.
"Hey we'll go sit over there. Hey guys do you mind getting us ladies something to drink?" asked Marle.
"Sure. C'mon Crono" said Zell.
Zell and Crono walked off to the bar and Lucca, Marle, and Yuffie went to go find a booth.
Selphie and Irvine passed Yuffie.
"Oh hey Yuffie how are ya" smiled Selphie.
"Oh hey Selphie and Irvine" said Yuffie.
"Hey we'll catch up with you later we're going back out for round 2 on the dance floor" laughed Irvine.
Yuffie, Lucca, and Marle sat down at a booth.
"So now that we have the boys off for a bit how about a little girl talk. So Yuffie what do you think of Zell?" asked Marle smiling brightly.
"What? Zell's really nice" said Yuffie blushing a bit.
"Ooo do you like him?" laughed Luccal.
Yuffie simply said nothing but one could easily tell she was somewhat embarrassed.
"Oh I think that redness in her cheeks is a yes" laughed Marle.
"They would make a nice couple. They looked so cute together out on the dance floor" said Lucca.
"I know did you see Zell keeping all those sweaty guys off of her it was so sweet" said Marle.
"Ha ha you're not what I expected at all from a princess. You're really down to earth" laughed Yuffie
"Yep she is…look there's that guy that dumped me on Termidate…and he's with the girl that won" said Lucca looking off in the distance at Riku and Rikku.
"Oh him? Hmpf don't even worry about him Lucca you deserve a much better guy. You need a guy that has intelligence and knows all about machines and stuff" smiled Marle.
"Yeah I think you're right" said Marle
Crono and Zell came back with the drinks and the five of them had a good time sitting there and talking.
(Next Scene)
Garnet and Zidane were sitting at the bar laughing and talking and holding each others hands. Both of them were filled with that indescribable feeling one gets when love is brand new. They were enjoying each others company so much that they seemed oblivious to everything around them. Echidna walked up from behind the bar and refilled their cups but chances are they were even oblivious to that.
"You're looking so great tonight" said Zidane.
Garnet burst out laughing.
"What?" asked Zidane
"Look at you trying to act all suave" smiled Garnet.
"I am suave what are you talking about?" laughed Zidane.
"Geez are you two ever going to get on the dance floor?" asked Sora.
He and Kairi walked up and both of their faces were very sweaty. They had been partying hard.
"Sora they are just like we were when we first started dating don't you remember? Let the new couple enjoy themselves" giggled Kairi.
"Hey have any of you seen Vivi?" asked Zidane.
"Yeah he's still being passed around the dance floor by a bunch of girls" said Sora.
"Oh…well just as long as he's ok…" said Zidane.
(Next Scene)
Vivi tried to escape the large mob of people but was pulled back in by several hands.
"Come back here dance with me cutie!"
"Somebody help AHHHH!" yelled Vivi as he was dragged back into the mob.
(Next Scene)
Cloud and Red XIII sat at a table with Quistis, Rinoa, and Squall. Red XIII sat beside the table on his hind legs.
"So you ended up in Cosmo Canyon?" asked Squall.
"Yeah and that's where I met Red XIII" said Cloud.
"Cloud I'm sorry you didn't make it into SOLDIER but you know Shinra is not the company it's cracked up to be…" said Quistis. She sort of looked down and drifted off into space a bit as she said this. More than likely she thought about Vincent at that moment.
"Yeah I kind of figured that out while I was there" said Cloud.
"So are you going to tell Tifa you beat up her boyfriend?" laughed Squall.
"Squall!" said Rinoa scolding him.
"What it is kind of a funny story and she needs to know that Rude's a dog" said Squall.
"Yeah I guess I'll have to tell her as soon as possible. In fact I'm going to go find her now" said Cloud as he got up to go look for her.
Mog came walking up with a tray of food.
"A moogle" said Red XIII.
Mog set the food on their table and looked at Red XIII
"Whoa Kupo! What's one of your tribe doing all the way out here in Square City? Shouldn't you be guarding Cosmo Canyon 'po?" asked Mog.
"Well shouldn't you be guarding Narshe?" asked Red XIII
"Kupo! Hey there are plenty of moogles left to guard Narshe. Just like there are plenty of Hypellos at the Moonflow guarding it and plenty of Shumi in their village guarding it. We can afford to come to the city. There aren't many of your kind left though. So you should be guarding Cosmo Canyon. Next I'll be hearing that the Ronso are letting strangers up Mt. Gagazet…" said Mog. He seemed somewhat upset
"It's funny how you scold others for neglecting their duties while you neglect your own" said Red XIII.
"Kupo! Kuuupo! 'po" yelled Mog.
"There's no need for name calling" said Red XIII
Mog walked away a little angry.
"What was that argument about?" whispered Rinoa to Quistis and Squall.
"I don't know" said Quistis.
"No clue either" said Squall sipping some of his drink.
Squall then heard the strange voice in his head again.
"Little lion they are Guardian Beast with the duty to protect Gaia's precious magical energies…but they neglect their duties…" said the voice.
Squall spit a little of his drink out on the table when he heard the voice in his head again.
"Squall are you alright?" asked Rinoa.
"Umm yeah the drink was a little bitter that's all" said Squall trying to clean up the mess he made.
"I must be going out of my mind" thought Squall
(Next Scene)
Riku and Rikku walked to the bar and sat down on two stools there. Zidane and Garnet were not too far from them so they waved to them.
"So then everything went fine with the match making?" asked Rikku.
"Yeah it was great they are officially a couple now" said Riku.
"That's awesome…so what about you and me?" asked Rikku as she scooted a little closer to Riku.
Riku put his arm around her and she looked at him smiling brightly.
"I think we're officially a couple now too…if that's ok with you?" asked Riku.
"It's fine with me" smiled Rikku she then kissed Riku on the lips.
"That's nice you two make a nice couple" said Echidna watching them from behind the bar.
"Echidna" said Riku.
"Hi Echidna" said Rikku.
"Nice to see you two hit it off after the show. Sorry I saw the tape of you getting sprayed by that cactuar" said Echidna.
"Yeah that…hurt pretty badly actually" said Riku.
"But it was sweet you that you saved her. It seems you really like her. I tell you what here's two drinks on me just to show you there are no hard feelings for not picking me. Don't worry I didn't spit in them or anything" said Echidna as she scooted two glasses over to them.
"Thanks Echidna" said Riku
"Thank you very much Echidna" said Rikku
"No prob…aww I thought I had seen the last of her…" said Echidna looking behind them.
They turned around to see Dona standing there with a very large muscular man with brown hair. He looked like he was all brawn and no brain.
"Oh isn't this sweet it's like a Termidate reunion" said Dona giving a fake smile.
"It suddenly stinks in here" said Echidna.
"It's probably your breath Anteater" said Dona.
"It's Echidna and I'll climb across this bar and clobber you!" said Echidna.
Riku felt like he was at Termidate all over again. Dona ignored Anteater…I mean Echidna and talked to Riku.
"Riku I was sorry to hear about your little mishap with the cactuar" said Dona pretending she had nothing to do with it.
"Yeah thanks…" said Riku.
"Well I guess it serves you right for not choosing a real woman but it doesn't matter because now I have a real man. This is Barthello and he's 100 times the man you'll ever be. Barthello we're leaving" said Dona
Dona walked off into the crowd and Barthello followed her like a little puppy dog.
"Geez think that guy works out enough?" laughed Riku.
Rikku laughed and the two of them sat there talking.
(Next Scene)
"Ugh Aeris quit avoiding me. Just talk to me" said Zack walking after Aeris.
"What do you want?" said Aeris finally stopping.
"Why are you mad at me? It's not like we had a bad break up" said Zack.
"What's up with you introducing me as just "an old friend?"" asked Aeris.
"Aeris is that what this is about? You haven't seen me in years and you're mad because I said you're my friend? I see you haven't changed a bit you still get mad over the slightest little things" said Zack.
"I've changed plenty over the years! You haven't changed I still see you're an insensitive slob!" yelled Aeris.
"If I'm so insensitive then why did I come all the way back here to see if you were still here?" asked Zack.
"…you came to see if I was still here?" asked Aeris somewhat surprised.
"Yeah, will you just talk with me for a bit and catch up?" asked Zack.
"…Lucky for you I'm in a good mood today" said Aeris.
"If this is a good mood I'd hate to see a bad one thought Zack. The two of them went to a table and they sat down and talked.
(Next Scene)
Red Okonogi and Terra walked through the door. They had to wait in the crowd outside the club because they didn't know anyone to let them cut the line.
"Geez I thought we'd never get out of that crowd but now that we're here it looks like it was well worth it look at this place" said Red
"Do you think we should be here? Shouldn't we be training or something?" asked Terra.
"Hey we need to cut loose and take a break every now and then" said Red still looking around.
"I guess you're right" said Terra.
"Want to get on the dance floor with me?" asked Red.
"Umm ok sounds like fun" said Terra.
Terra and Red walked over to the dance floor. Terra looked back at the door to the club and a strange man was standing there. He was an old man with a bald head and a very long white beard that hung down to the floor. He wore long white robes with a beaded necklace and held a wooden staff in his right hand. In this attire he looked very out of place in this club. He looked directly at Terra and smiled. No one that walked past him seemed to notice him.
"Look at that man" said Terra trying to get Red's attention.
"What man?" asked Red looking around.
"That old man by the door" said Terra pointing.
"What old man?" asked Red.
Terra looked and sure enough the old man had vanished. She looked around the club and didn't see him at all.
"He's gone" said Terra.
"Oh well come on let's go" said Red.
"Ok" said Terra as the two of them went to the dance floor.
(Next Scene)
Tifa stepped into the kitchen to check on things back there. Quina was cooking some things and a few moogles were helping. Dominique was on her way out with a tray of food.
"Is everything going alright Dominique?" asked Tifa.
"Yep sure is. Everyone loves the food and is having a good time" said Dominique as she walked through the door and stepped back out into the club.
"Uh oh I think I burned something 'po" said a moogle.
This was a female moogle with a pinkish color. Her name was Mag. She pulled a tray out of an oven and one was a pile of burnt food.
"-sigh- please just don't burn the place down" said Tifa as she walked back out into the club.
Cloud was standing right there.
"Cloud is something wrong?" asked Tifa.
"Um Tifa I need to talk to you…" said Cloud.
"Ok" said Tifa stepping a little closer.
"Is Rude coming here?" asked Cloud
"…Rude and I broke up…you were right about him Cloud. I caught him about to get it on in a hospital bed" said Tifa.
"Yeah…Tifa I know about him…I'm the reason he's in the hospital" said Cloud looking down at the ground a bit.
"What?" asked Tifa.
"The reason I got kicked out of the SOLDIER try outs is because I Rude was there and I heard him talking bad about you. We got in a fight and when his friend tried to jump in Zack stopped him. As punishment they dropped us off in the wilderness without any equipment and that's how we met Red XIII at Cosmo Canyon. I just wanted to tell you all this before you found out and got mad at me or something…" said Cloud.
Tifa didn't say anything she just looked at Cloud.
"Look Tifa if you're mad at my please don't hit me I know you hit really hard and…"
"I'm not mad at you Cloud. You were just…you were just keeping a childhood promise…"said Tifa smiling at him.
"Yeah" smiled Cloud.
"Let's go dance" said Tifa grabbing Cloud's hand.
(Next Scene)
Lenne and a photographer stood a few blocks away from the club.
"Miss Lenne this is odd. Most celebrities don't try to work with tabloid photographers. They usually try to avoid us" said the man.
"Do you want these pictures or not?" asked Lenne.
"Yeah I'll get a ton of money for these" said the man.
"Ok then do everything I told you to do and make sure you keep that your camera is hidden" said Lenne.
"Alright" said the photographer.
Lenne and the photographer walked up to the club entrance. The crowd had gotten a little smaller but there were still quite a few people there. They all looked in disbelief as they saw Lenne walk up to the crowd.
"Oh man look!" said Kou
"What?" asked Sion
"That's Lenne!" said Kou
"Hi there…do you think you could let me in the club…please?" asked Lenne with a very sweet voice.
"Oh yeah of course we can! Come on in Lenne!" said Kou opening the door for her.
"Can my friend come too please?" asked Lenne very sweetly.
"Sure he can come too!" said Kou.
"Thanks you're so nice" smiled Lenne as she and the photographer walked into the club.
Lenne walked in and looked around. Everyone was pretty busy having a great time and no one noticed her. She scanned the club and soon found who she was looking for. Tidus and Yuna were standing by the bar laughing and having a great time.
"Get close so you can get a good shot" said Lenne
"Alright" said the photographer.
He walked off and tried to blend in with the crowd. He kept his camera hidden inside his coat.
Dominique had a tray of drinks and she walked by Lenne.
"Oh excuse me may I have a drink please?" asked Lenne.
"Yes these ones are complimentary but you have to pay for the ones at the bar" said Dominique handing Lenne a small glass.
"This will do" said Lenne smiling as she walked away with small drink.
Dominique walked away a bit then she realized who Lenne was.
"Wait that was Lenne!" said Dominique.
Lenne walked over to Tidus and Yuna at the bar.
"Hey Tidus! Oh you must be Yuna. It's so nice to meet you" said Lenne smiling brightly.
"Hey Lenne! Yuna this is Lenne" said Tidus.
"It's nice to meet you too Lenne" said Yuna.
"It's such a pleasure to meet you because Tidus has told me so much about you and oops my drink!"
Lenne purposely dropped her drink and it landed all over Yuna's shirt.
"Oh no I'm so clumsy I'm so sorry Yuna! You should hurry to the bathroom and get that out" said Lenne pretended to be concerned.
"Oh it's ok I'll just run to the ladies room really fast" said Yuna as she got up and walked off to the ladies restroom.
Lenne got closer to Tidus and gave a glance to the photographer.
"I'm so sorry about that" said Lenne.
"Oh she'll be alright" said Tidus.
"This place is great don't you think? It looks so nice in here" said Lenne
"Yeah it's great" said Tidus.
Lenne's cell phone began to ring. It was actually the photographer calling her cell like she had told him too.
"Oh it's my agent…I have to go Tidus…" said Lenne pretending to be sad as she looked at her phone
"Wow you have to go already?" asked Tidus.
"Yeah…I have some work I have to finish up…that's how it goes though. Hopefully I'll get to talk to you sometime later" said Lenne.
"Alright then take care" said Tidus.
Lenne kissed Tidus on his cheek and the photographer snapped the picture at the perfect moment.
"Tell Yuna I said bye" said Lenne.
"Ok I will" said Tidus.
Lenne smiled and walked off. She winked at the photographer and he walked behind her.
"This is going to make a great story. The magazines are going to pay me good money for this picture thanks a bunch Lenne" said the photographer.
"No problem. Just make sure you come up with a good story behind the picture" said Lenne as the two of them left the club.
After a while Yuna came back from the ladies room.
"Where'd Lenne go?" asked Yuna.
"She got a call from her agent and had to run. She told me to tell you goodbye" said Tidus.
"Oh" said Yuna.
(Next Scene)
The night was coming to an end and the party was still exciting. It was time for the grand finale to the night. From a distance Tifa gave DJ Hype a signal.
"Everyone get on zee dance floorsh. It ish time to paartaay in the cloudsh" said DJ Hype.
DJ Hype pressed a button on the wall and soon a fog like substance began to pour out of a nozzle in the ceiling. This excited everyone in the club and everyone that had been sitting down before got up and began dancing in fog. Even Red XIII came up and jumped around in the fog. He seemed to be enjoying himself. Red Okonogi and Terra danced around in the fog. This was the most fun Terra had ever had in her life. Zidane and Garnet finally got up from the bar and ran into the fog holding hands. Vivi tried to get out of the fog but the arms of the girls pulled him back in it.
The fog began to spread through out most of the club. Selphie grabbed Irvine's cowboy hat and put it on her head. She then began waving her hands in the air and bouncing around excitedly. Kairi leaned her head on Sora's shoulder as the fog passed them. Lucca, Zell, Crono, Yuffie and Marle cheered as the fog covered them too. Rikku and Riku kissed each other and the fog surrounded them. Dona was choked by the fog and started coughing uncontrollably while Barthello tried to see what was wrong with her.
Squall put his arm around Rinoa. Quistis smiled as she watched the fog cover her. Nida and Paine were laughing when they noticed the fog was now creeping toward them. Zack was talking to Aeris and she was actually smiling when the fog covered them. Tifa and Cloud stood off to the side and saw the fog covering the whole place and everyone laughing and having the best time.
"Tifa I'm glad your dream came true" said Cloud. He put his arm around her and smiled.
"I am too Cloud….I am too"
(End Chapter 19)
Phew now this was the longest chapter so far. Too many Square cameos in this chapter for me to even try to summarize. Sometimes I wonder if I'll ever finish this story. The more I write the more I think of things to add to the story. Oh well I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Take Care.