"Sea Salts to Heal."
Disclaimer: I own nothing. NOTHING, I tell you. But I do own Tynan and all of her clothing. But I do now own Riku. Sadly. Or the Keyblade. Oh well.
A/N: Woot! An update! I lied. Its up sometime THIS week..not next week..
No shout outs, cause I want to get this up as soon as possible. But thank you ALL for reviewing and I love you all and you all get a plushie of your choice.
Please enjoy!
There was a point, each day, where Traverse Town became one with itself. No one wandered the streets or worked in their shops. All lights were turned off except for the stars. Normally, this would be an insane opportunity for Heartless to strike. But since the Heartless were gone, the people of Traverse slept peacefully. Their breaths; breathing in unison and creating a wave of calm over the world. Peaceful slumber.
But not for everyone....
Oh my life is changing everyday
Every possible way
Though my dreams, it's never quite as it seems
Never quite as it seems
The house was completely silent. Not ever a tick of a clock or a shuffling of mice could be heard. It was silent but it was never peaceful. The calm before the devastating storm. Six pairs of eyes and ears waited with baited breath for that break in the calm, the point where their day would come crashing down. Some were angry and some were terrified. But the silence continued, buzzing like angry bees as if it knew what was to come.
Twelve-year old Tynan put her face into her knees, face flushed and stomach fluttering with fear. She could feel her heart pounding in her entire body. Unconciously, her injuries began to sting again even if they had long since healed. Maybe because she had irritated them by shifting so. Or maybe because they knew what was in store for her.
A gentle hand gripped her neck, pulling her face out of her neck and turning it up to face her intruder. An old, wrinkling woman smiled down at her, brushing her hair back from her face. Tynan gave a stuttering smile, tilting her head forward to drop her hair back in her face. As if she could hide from her fear behind her hair. As if she could hide the colour of her skin.
"You mustn't do that." The old woman said gently. "Your fear will increase your pain."
"Doesn't matter." Tynan said, in thickly accented Common. (1) "pain will come, no matter what I do."
"That man." The old woman, Creesha, said fiercely. "That evil man, lives off fear."
"Doesn't matter." She said again. "Being fearless will not change my skin colour. He will not hate me less."
It had been nearly four years since the day she and her family had been taken from their country home. War had been around all her life, and hundreds of years before that. She should have expected it. The People had always been cruel to the people of her skin colour. Humans with white skin were rare and as far as the People were concerned, a mistake of nature. They considered a whole race of White-Skinners to be a large threat, and War had broken out nearly two centuries ago. The People were doing a good job of eliminating them, but she'd never suspected that they would attack her country home. But attack they had; Her parents and oldest brother had been taken away and probably killed. She and her younger brothers and sister had been sold as slaves to the man she had called Master for a large amount of time.
Master was a horrible man. They couldn't have lucked out and been sold to someone who was only buying slaves to free them. Tynan and her brothers worked at his farm all day, until they were tired enough to faint. And even then, when Master came home, he took his anger and frustration out on them. Her injuries gave another twinge.
"I can't stand this much longer." She said in her own language, running her hands through her matted hair. "I'm bound to lose my sanity."
"He will pay." Creesha said sadly, standing from Tynan's cot and watching as the young girl shrunk into herself again. "Somehow, he will pay for what he has done."
"I hope so." She said in common, feeling the oddness of speaking in such a plat tongue. "I hope you're right. For my siblings sake. I don't much care about myself anymore."
Tynan sobbed angrily into her knees, cradling her bleeding hand to her chest and trying to block out the sobs of her five year old brother and the yells of her Master. The oldest of her brothers climbed on to the cot beside her, blond hair mixing with hers as he bent protectively around her. She could feel the room throbbing, feel the wild anger mounting inside her. Yet she couldn't release it, couldn't do anything with it.
"Freedom of mind." Her brother whispered to her. "Freedom of anger."
"I can't." She sobbed. "I can't do this any longer. He is going to kill him this time!"
"You must escape." He whispered, shaking her when she began to argue. "Listen! You are the fastest of all of us. There are refugee camps across the lake. People who will help us. You must bring them here."
"I couldn't!" She gasped. "I could never leave you!"
"I'm the oldest." He said sternly. "This is an order. You must do this to save us. Tomorrow, when we're out in the fields, you must cut through the neighboring farmyard. The farmer's son will be watching for you. If you cut through the forest, facing east, you'll eventually reach a road. Cut through the bush on the left side and you'll reach the lake. You must find a way to get across."
"Others have tried to escape through neighbouring feilds!" She argued weakly. "It never works! The penalty for attempted escape is death!"
"It has worked before." he replied. "And there was never a refugee camp before."
"How long have you been planning this?" She asked incredulously
He smiled. "The farmer's son next door has been giving me information for the past few months. The gray cross only recently set up camp across the lake. Its our only chance."
She sobbed harder, clutching to her brother as hard as she could. He had been so strong through all of this, closest to her out of all her siblings. He was watching her sadly, pushing her towards the small door that lead to the only room where they could hide from their master, for it was a tiny closet room he did not know about. She struggled against him, trying to push against his greater strength. But she could hear her youngest brother crying, she could hear her Master storming. And the love and faith in her brother's eyes told her he would never make her do something he didn't think was right.
The gate cut her stomach as she struggled to climb over it the next day, weak from the day's work and from general malnutrition. Her brother's bulk blocked the view of the other slave, his eyes sad as he boosted her over the gate.
"I love you." She whispered, dropping to the other side of the fence on shaky legs. "I'll come back."
"I know you will." He said, all serious. "Run fast and hard. Don't be afraid."
And so she ran fast and hard. She could almost hear the pounding of footsteps or hooves behind her. She ran blindly, without any sense of direction, twigs cutting her face as she ran and fighting though waist deep mud. She was tired, she couldn't breath. But she couldn't stop. She knew her Master would take this out on her brother. She was running for minutes, hours, days or weeks. She couldn't tell but she never stopped.
Joy filled her heart when she finally reached the lake. Her brother had said that the refugee camp was only across. But where could she get a boat? She cut through the bush with as much energy she could muster, fighting the urge to lie down and close her eyes. Only anger and desperation fueled her movements, but that flame died the moment she reached the shore.
The camp, the refugee house, was burning to the ground.
She stood in shock for a long moment, watching the flames dance over the water. She fell back onto the sand, staring at the fire with dull disappointment. She couldn't feel much anymore, only the crusted mud on her legs. Her breathing was calm, as if this was all just a misunderstanding. A mosquito landed on her muddy leg, pricking her and drawing blood. It was the last straw.
She screamed. She yelled her lungs out into the air and it echoed across the lake, through the trees. It was a howl, a pure sound of anguish and devastation. It was pain and sadness, a demon she had never been allowed to let out. Mourning for her parents and brother, hate for her Master, and the need to forgive herself for the colour of her skin. She screamed until she had no voice left, her throat was throbbing with the rest of her body. Her energy was now completely gone. It would have been a good time to cry. But she didn't. She sat up straight and started without emotion at the fire across the lake.
"So you're the new girl."
"Yeah. I'm the new girl."
"Maleficent told me she found you screaming your lungs out."
"I was a little angry."
"So it would seem."
"You gonna teach me the dark powers deal or what?"
"Of course. Any particular world you'd like to practice it on?"
Fourteen year old Tynan didn't smirk like everyone expected her to. She continued to stare straight ahead, eyes dull and unfeeling, as if she were bored with everything around her. She turned her eyes to her new teacher, blinking slowly at him as if she had just realized he was speaking to her.
"Yeah." She said. "yeah, I've got a perfect little world for me to practice on."
Tynan wrenched herself up into a sitting position. Her blankets were tangled around her legs, probably from all the running she had acted out from her dream. She could feel the tears and the sweat, feel that horrible dull feeling for a moment in her heart. Her eyes prickled, but she couldn't cry. She rubbed her arms against the silk of her new pyjamas, eyeing the shopping bags at the foot of her bed. A glance to her side told her that Shuyin was actually sleeping for once, blond bangs falling across a rarely peaceful face. She dare not disturb him.
She lay in her bed for a long time but that prickly feeling wouldn't go away. Horrible memories were replayed in front of her eyes, and she jerked to the door and was out in the hall before she could even untangle her blankets. Fear pounded in her heart, and she was suddenly bitter about the fact that she had an antisocial roommate. She couldn't go into the Green Room since Squall was in quarantine. She refused to go into the Red Room; Cloud and Aerith had done so much for her already. That left one room, one she was reluctant about entering. But she didn't have any other choice, not if she were going to get anymore sleep that night.
She crept slowly into the room, careful not to step on the floorboards she knew would creak. Only a tiny bit of moonlight escaped through the window curtains, just enough to guide her through the room without tripping on loose clothing or something like that. The bed was a large shadow in the far corner, a sliver of silver light just barely reaching the coverlet. Tynan stood at the end of the bed, blocking that light out.
Riku and Sora were opposites even in sleep. They slept in the exact same position, but opposite to each other so that they formed a symmetrical shape. Only Riku was sleeping in a serene and calm way, while Sora drooled with his mouth wide open. They were such an odd pair. It made her smile a little.
She sat down gently on their bed, fearing that they would wake up. She watched them sleep for a long time, finally realizing that she was acting like a stalker. In a last, spiteful move against the boy she was feeling slightly annoyed with, she tugged Riku's blanket off his body and pulled it over herself. She didn't know what she would tell him in the morning. It was odd, she thought, as she lulled herself into sleep. Sora was her savior and Riku was the main reason of her troubles. Sora had saved her from the darkness, saved everyone from the darkness. Riku had pulled her deeper into the darkness, and almost caused everyone complete destruction. And yet she felt nothing but safe. Sleeping at the foot of the bed of the two people with the most destructive power in the worlds.
Safe, warm and protected. The prickling in her eyes increased until it was soothed with the gentle flow of water. Sora's soft snoring filled her ears and Riku's blanket smelled just like him. For the first time in six years, she began to cry.
Riku eyes' blinked open at the sound, shifting his head to eye to girl at the end of his bed. She held his blanket close to her eyes, shoulders shaking as she sobbed into the material. His heart wrenched strangely, hating the sight of such a cool and strong person crying so dreadfully. He sat up completely, eyeing her sadly when she looked up in feared surprise.
"R-riku!" She gasped, trying to wipe away the steady flow of tears and failing.
"You're crying." He stated the obvious, checking to make sure Sora was still asleep.
"I'm sorry." She sobbed, and Riku frowned at the sudden accent in her voice. "I'll leave."
"No." He said forcefully, as she scrambled to get up. She stilled like a deer being hunted, gazing at him with tears still falling. His heart wrenched again at her obvious lack of control. "Come here."
She gave no hesitation in crawling into his arms. Something he took great happiness in, since he had just put a lot of his pride on the line. Her tears ran down his neck and into the collar of his shirt. But he continued to hold her as she sobbed, mindless of his clothes. Mindless of his anger towards her, mindless of Sora's snores which were growing in volume. He held her closely by the waist, relished in comforting and protecting someone. It had been a very long time.
"You're okay." He said softly, rubbing her back uncomfortably.
She pulled back, shoulders still shifting as she struggled to grain control of herself.
"Y-you're not mad?" She asked cautiously.
Riku frowned. It had been quite awhile since he'd heard Tynan talk in her accent, something she had learned to cover up. He'd had no idea that she still had the accent at all. Normally, she would have lost it by now. It would seem she still wasn't telling him the complete truth. Unless her tears had been brought by a nightmare. He'd heard that accents could return to people if they were frightened about their past and had dreams about it. He didn't really care to ask.
"I'm still mad." He said grudgingly, shifting himself into a lying position.
"Oh." She frowned thoughtfully. "You can have your blanket back."
"Shut up." He muttered, shoving her away. "Go to bed."
She sighed, raising her hands in defeat and shifting so that she was lying on top of both his and Sora's legs. She was asleep faster than Riku had ever seen anyone fall asleep. Even Sora. He watched her for a moment, realizing he had never found out why she was crying. Then he realized he was acting like a stalker, closed his eyes and went to sleep himself.
Somehow, it didn't seem to matter anymore.
Squall knew he was in trouble when he opened his eyes and Yuffie was glaring down at him. It wasn't an unusually sight, but he hadn't done anything wrong lately that he could think of. Yet Yuffie was standing at the foot of the bed, arms crossed over her chest and eyes glaring fiercely at him. Had he said something in his sleep? Was she still angry at him about earlier?
"And just who have you been exchanging saliva with?" She demanded, pointing at him.
He blinked slowly, trying to process this information. His thoughts seemed to coming slower then usual, taking a moment to become complete. The lights were bright, he hurt all over and he didn't really feel much like thinking right now. Especially when Yuffie was sputtering nonsense.
"What are you talking about?" He muttered, squinting at her.
"Mononucleosis." She growled dangerously. "Is what you have been diagnosed with from Docter Aerith. The kissing disease, Squall Leonhart! Who have you been kissing?"
"Not kissing anyone." He muttered, turning his face into his pillow. "No kissing."
"Don't you fall asleep on me!" She shouted, and he jerked awake again. "I want answers!"
Aerith shook her head when she walked into the room, carrying a bottle of pills and a small glass of water. She paused to place a hand on Yuffie's shoulder, kneeling down beside the bed and bringing Squall up to a sitting position. His brow furrowed, but he didn't argue, opening his eyes only a little to take the pill she was handing him.
"Kissing's only one way you can catch mono, Yuf." She explained gently. "You can get it from sharing a glass. Or even a fork."
"Oh." Yuffie seemed to relax, bustling over to the other side of the bed and taking the glass from Squall's weak hold. It was disturbing to see Squall so weak like this, accepting help and hardly able to keep his eyes open. It scared her really. What if Squall never got his strength back? "That's okay then."
Aerith giggled. "Its not that bad. He's actually quite lucky. He has a very mild case of it. He'll only have to stay in bed a few weeks."
Squall opened his eyes with just enough energy to grimace angrily in her direction. Aerith smiled cheekily, bending down to swipe a piece of hair from his forehead just to annoy him. Squall exhaled shakily, shifting his body and turning his head away from her. Aerith shrugged, winking at the distressed Ninja across the room from her and making her exit.
Yuffie sat on the bed. "I didn't really care if you were kissing anyone."
Squall grunted, feeling the edges of unconsciousness pulling at his brain.
"This is pretty good actually." Yuffie chirped on, happily moving Squall's arm so that she could lie down on her side of the bed. "I'll be able to play nurse to you all week!"
Squall's closed eyes flinched as he grimaced in confusion. He thought about this. Yuffie would be positively the most annoying nurse that could ever exist. He had no wish to be talked to and annoyed when his head was feeling this foggy. And yet...
An image of Yuffie dressed in a skimpy nurses outfit, maniacal grin in place as she lifted a gigantic needle and gave it a little squirt assaulted his brain. Yuffie flinched and jumped away from him as laughter in its truest form burst from his lips. The young ninja stared in horror as the stoic warrior cackled loudly into the room, face split wide with mirth, although he was too tired to open his eyes. She waited until it died down and he appeared calm before she checked to see if his fever had given him brain damage.
"Are you okay?" She asked timidly, confused beyond her wits.
"I'm fine." He said lightly, turning his face into his pillow and sighing tiredly. "Now stop talking and let me get some sleep."
Yuffie blinked, completely out of sorts as she settled back into her pillows. He looked like the normal Squall. He slept like the normal Squall. But never, in any of the years she had known him, had Yuffie ever heard Squall laugh quite like that. Maybe a fever really had fried his brain.
She smiled to herself. Fried brain or not. It was good to hear Squall laugh.
"I was really worried about you, Squall." She whispered, turning her face to his.
He exhaled again, his lips twitching slightly. "Nothing to worry about, kid."
She stared at him in horror once again. The clock above their heads ticked once...twice...
"And its Leon."
Yuffie let out a breath of relief.
His brain wasn't completely fried.
Cloud Strife perched himself on the window sill of his bedroom, watching the empty streets below. He wondered what Traverse must have looked like before he had come. If he had been sitting here, just like this, would he have seen an army of Heartless casually strolling below as if they were mere occupants of the city? Would he have been forced to run into the street and fight?
Something deep inside him wanted just that…something …anything to happen so that he could find some way to deal with emotions he couldn't quite explain. Confusion...anger...some happiness that had somehow managed to sneak its way into his life when he knew he didn't deserve it.
It had never really occured to him before. He had found Aerith finally and that was all the seemed to matter. But being alone for a whole day with three teenagers was enough to open his eyes to the reality around him. He'd seen people their age around the district, talking happily and smiling. But not these three. Tynan, Riku and Sora had forgotten what it was like to have that much fun. It had been so long, and they were already loosing the elation of youth. They weren't even seventeen.
These were three people who had sacrificed more then he could imagine. People who had been through so much more than himself. And they were still so young. Didn't they deserve to be happy? He didn't deserve any happiness at all for what he had done. There were people everywhere who deserved happiness, but couldn't find any. And here he was...
'Oh, get over yourself.'
Cloud narrowed his eyes at the detailed pathway below. He refused to turn around and face the voice that mocked and taunted him into seeing common sense. He hated it when that voice made him see his own faults, and he always had. Annoying, medeling, overconfident. Tifa stood in the doorway of his room, glaring holes in his back.
'Don't ignore me.' She said, crossing the room on soundless footsteps. 'I will not be ignored.'
"Currently in the process of ignoring you." He replied.
'Oh, poor Cloudy-boy.' She whined. 'So misunderstood. No one to talk to.'
"No one to talk to but the memory of my dead best friend." He added, crossing his arms as goose bumps rose on his arms. "And don't call me Cloudy-boy."
Tifa shrugged. "Its not my fault if your parents doomed you with a name that would ultimately be made fun of."
Cloud smiled. "Yes, it is. Its always your fault."
She gasped. "I'm deeply wounded by your words, Sir Strife." She laughed. "I heard you smile. Turn around and bestow your pretty eyes upon my beautiful pale skin."
Cloud remained silent for a long time before the grin on Tifa's face began to fade. She avoided a pair of quickly discarded pants with a grand face of disgust, trying to stay as far away from his underwear as possible. She rested her hand on his shoulder once she was close enough behind him, missing the goosebumbs that soon spread to the blond's neck.
"What are you so afraid of?" She asked, unsure if he would answer.
"Nothing." He grunted, rubbing his arms uncomfortably.
"Bull." She hissed. "You may be able to fool Aerith with your macho act, but you'll never be able to get past me. I know you've got something about hiding your face all the time. But you've never hidden it from me and that shouldn't have to start now because I'm...."
"Dead?" Cloud finished for her. "Because you're dead?"
"Is that what this is about Cloud? You're afraid of me because I'm haunting you?"
"No.." He sighed. "That's not it."
She tilted her head in confusion, watching sadly as his head tipped forward and he rested his forehead against the glass of his window. Cloud had never been this obsessed with hiding his feelings...not before he had lost his memory from an unfortunate encounter with the Heartless. But his amnesia had given him a new ambition, given his world a new protector, and it had brought him to Aerith...
"Then what is it?" She asked softly.
He hesitated. "I know that if I turn around that you won't be real. At least if I face this way, I can pretend."
Her hand clutched tightly at his shoulder, although she knew he couldn't feel it.
"I am real." She whispered brokenly. "Memories are all you have. They're all anyone who has lost someone can rely on. I can't get much more real than this."
"Huh." He murmured. "And I thought it was because I'm crazy."
She grinned. "Well, that's a large part of it too."
He sighed, reaching his own hand up to touch hers. His fingers touched nothing but his shoulder, and his heart skipped a beat as soon as he felt the rough material of his shirt beneath his skin. She wasn't there..she would never be there. She was dead..and he was crazy...
"Just turn around, Cloud." Tifa said impatiently. "Stop being such a baby."
"That's right, Tif." He growled sarcastically. "Keep the praises coming."
"Oh my god." She rolled her eyes. "Are you pregnant?"
"Yes." He replied, rolling his own. "I should have used protection. But I've sure learned my lesson. Now go away."
"Well, you're acting like it." She sighed in frustration. "You're harnessing some kind of female reproduction system effect. But I didn't comehere to give you that sort of education."
"Lucky me." He muttered.
"Sarcasm not appreciated!" She cried, throwing her arms into the air. She crossed the room again, careful to avoid all traces of his underwear and sat on the bed, her transparent body going right through the shopping bags that rested there. She payed them no mind. "I'm here to psychologify you. Your aura just screams 'I need professional help.'"
"I don't need psycholigification." He muttered, and then turned around quickly to make a face at her. "Psychologify isn't even a word!"
Her slow grin told him exactly what he had done. Tifa shifted back on to his bed, resting her head unconciously on Aerith's pillow.
Cloud, however, noticed this. He made a low noise in his throat, eyeing the ghostly image of his best friend with the most torn expression Tifa had ever seen. He watched her frown, before her expression cleared and she attempted to lighten the mood again.
"There now." She smiled fondly. "Now I can see your pretty face."
"Please leave, Tifa." He whispered brokenly. "Just go."
"Hey, Mister." She sat up and narrowed her eyebrows. "I am dead. You should be flowering me with poems and such. Not sending me away."
His expression darkened and she rolled her eyes. "Lighten up!"
"Its not funny!" He cried, picking up the windowsill pillow and throwing it at her with full strength. It cut directly through her stomach, leaving a whispy trail in its wake and an unpleasant grimace on Tifa' face. The grin had faded. Her expression was completely serious.
"I won't leave until you truly want me to." She said softly. "That's sort of how memories work."
"This isn't a memory." He muttered, turning away. "It's a hallucination."
"So You Think You're Going Crazy." She said. "I think I read that once. Oh, and there's also a great companion book entitled So You Think You're Feeling Guilty."
"Tifa." He sighed. "Why won't you go?"
She eyed him sadly. "Because I love you. And I want to make sure you don't make the same mistake twice. I know what will happen now. You'll start to think too much, you'll get paranoid, and you'll distance yourself from everyone who loves you because you think that's what is best."
He remained silent, and she took that as a sign she could continue.
"You're feeling bad about yourself because you took the easy way out. Darkness always felt more powerful to you. What better way to find Aerith then side with those who had the most power? You don't think straight, Cloud. You've got that banged up brain of yours. But...if giving up everything you believe in to find a girl isn't love...I don't know what is."
"I just made it harder for them" He muttered, refering to Aerith, his friends, the children, the people of Traverse. "I made it possible for more stars to go out...for more worlds to be lost."
"You need to get over yourself!" She said, for the second time. "You think you're feeling guilty? Imagine how Riku and Tynan and Shuyin must feel! You weren't all that important in the grand scheme of things, you know."
He sighed, not even wanting to know how she knew about any of those people. Tifa got up from the bed again, walking over to stand in front of him and look directly into his face.
"So you were Hades' lackie." She whispered softly, capturing his gaze. "So you got in Sora's way a few times. Sora has forgiven you. He forgave you the instant he saw how lost you were. That child has a sixth sense and you know it. If Sora has forgiven you, Yuffie, Squall, and especially Aerith have forgiven you...why can't you forgive yourself?"
"Because I'm an idiot." He whispered, giving her a small smile. "And pregnant."
"There's my boy." She grinned, ghost lips reaching up and brushing his cheek. "I know it will take awhile. But for now you need to enjoy the fact that you have Aerith. Use the time that you've been given with her. You owe that to the people who will never get that time with the people they love ever again."
He leaned foward, so that if she had been solid, he could have rested his forehead against hers. Tifa smiled, reaching up to toy with his bangs. They stayed like that for a moment in time, a time when Tifa became a little more real, instead of a figment of Cloud's memory.
"Why are you so smart?" He muttered, as if he were annoyed with this fact.
"Oh, it comes naturally." She smiled, stepping back from him. "You'll need to learn how to be so smart over time."
He sighed and shook his head. "I..I love you."
Tifa smiled sadly. "I know. But you love her more. So you'll need to whip your butt into shape and start paying attention to her instead of being sad for me because I'm dead. You were given the chance to live for a reason. Now use it, or I'll kick your ass."
He nodded. "Yes, sir!"
She rolled her eyes and smiled, and their eyes met before a loud bang startled Cloud out of his reverie. Tifa watched with another sad smile as he turned towards the sound, and she slowly dissapeared into the wall. Cloud, strangely enough, didn't even notice.
Aerith was muttering incessantly about her day and the horrors of being able to do healing magic and the really annoying pain she had in her lower back. Cloud watched her storm around the room from beneath his coat, sparkling eyes on every small movement she made. Aerith rambled past him with her hands flailing wildly in the air, and it took only a second for Cloud to grab her by the waist and pull her close. Aerith made a tiny squeak, her chatter dying as her lover buried his face in the loose hair falling from her braids.
"Cloud?" She murmured softly, wrapping her tiny arms around his shoulders. "You okay?"
"You won't leave me." He whispered, lips drifting over her ears. "Will you?"
She blinked at his odd behavior, pulling back from his embrace and holding him by the shoulders so she could peer into his face. He didn't seem to have a fever. Something in his eyes sparked, and Aerith gasped as the shutters that had forever guarded his soul fell apart. She bit her lip, pulling him foward by the coat and touching her nose to his, closing her eyes as she did.
"Never." She whispered fiercely. "I could never leave you."
"Good." He murmured, brushing his lips against hers once, and then again. Her hands rose up to play with the stubborn curls of hair at the nape of his neck, and he bent to place a soft kiss on the nape of hers. Then, he pulled away, reaching down and taking her hands in his.
"Come on." He said with a smile, pulling her towards the door. "I'm taking you out."
She narrowed her eyebrows as she was pulled towards the door. "Where?"
"You'll see." He promised, smiling down at her pout of confusion. He kissed it away, tightening his hand around hers. "I love you."
She smiled. "I love you too."
Tifa's memory tucked herself away in a special corner of his heart, a compartment all to herself. It was always left unlocked. Although she had the feeling that Cloud would not be digging through his heart to find her for quite awhile. He had more important things to do.
But she would still be there. Always.
Shuyin shifted his shoulders as the light flickered on in the Second District. Another day in Traverse Town had begun. Soon the streets would be filled with people. That was okay. Atleast he didn't have a headache today. He'd finally been able to sleep that night, without nightmares, without thoughts. Just a mindless dream, floating on the breaths of the Town's people.
A flyer unstuck itself from the wall on his left side, floating on the wind and finally sticking itself in his hair. He grimaced, pulling it out of his blond strands and glaring at the piece of paper that dare ruin his day. His expression cleared immediately as he read its contents.
CALLING ALL CHAMPIONS!
THIS WEEKEND WILL BE THE CHANCE OF A LIFETIME!
YOUR CHANCE TO GET NOTICED!
YOU CHANCE TO BE A REAL CHAMPION!
THIS WEEKEND WE ARE HOLDING TRAVERSE TOWN'S...
FIRST ANNUAL FIGHTING COMPETITION!
FOR SIGN UP AND FULL CONTEST DETAILS:
SEE THE ACCESSORY SHOP!
So the old man was up to his tricks again...
This would be interesting....
WOO! THREE CHEERS FOR ME!
recieves nothing but dull looks
Oh well. I'm SORRY SORRY SORRY for the long wait, and you've probably all forgotten about me. But I got distracted off this story, and I've been SO busy...and this chapter had complications after it had finally been written. Anyway, feel free to...um...throw...left-over halloween candy at me!
I love you all and I hoped you liked it! Please review!