The SOLDIER
(Two Years Later)
I sat at the bar, sipping my beer and pondering what I have done with the past two years of my life. When I arrived, I expected to find excitement. I never found that rumored training facility in Sector 3 or in any of the eight sectors of Midgar for that matter. I searched every sector and asked around, but nobody seemed to be in the business of martial arts training. I found this odd because Midgar was huge. I didn't think there was any way that there would NOT be what I was looking for. I even tried going down to the slums to see if there was one there, but to no avail.
After a couple of weeks, I gave up and bought a small apartment not far from the Shinra building on the Sector 3 Plate. I applied for several positions at Shinra, several times for each of them. With the money leftover from buying the scythe, I was able to support myself for a couple of months while I tried to find work. When they finally decided to hire me, they started me off as one of the president's foot soldiers. I eventually worked my way up the ranks up to security guard, which really wasn't that high up the ranks. From there, I started out guarding entrances to parties and conventions. Then moved up to guarding concert entrances, and eventually I ended up at the most boring thing in the whole world to guard, the door to the meeting room in the Shinra building. Meetings didn't happen very often right then, so I usually had plenty of time to myself. When there was a meeting, I'd be paid plenty to keep my life on track, since guarding the President's meeting room was like guarding the President himself.
I would often write home to mom and dad at Kalm and ask how everyone was doing. When they wrote back asking about how my life was going, I mostly answered with a made up story about how exciting my life was. I sometimes asked about Will and Jamie. Jamie made it safely home, and as it turned out, and Will let Jamie back into the wild soon after his return from Midgar.
My mom often asked in her letters if I had a boyfriend. I explained that I wasn't interested in dating anyone. I've never found a man that was able to catch my attention, unless he was trying to break into something while I was on duty. After living in Midgar a year or so, I began thinking that all men in Midgar were morons trying to get a bedtime partner, so I tried to avoid them when possible. I sometimes wondered what it must've been like to fall in love and have the other person love and respect you back, but I never really desired it. Or so I thought.
The bar was rather empty that night. It was mostly because most of the regulars, who were mostly Shinra soldiers, were at a special ceremony honoring the town of Nibelheim. Nibelheim was a small town far away from Midgar. The TV at the bar was showing the broadcast of ceremony. The announcers had those annoying sports-like voices. I was on my fifth pint of beer when I decided to look up and listen to the TV.
"…as today marks five years since the terrible fire that destroyed the innocent town of Nibelheim. The latest rumor on the incident is that a man in black named Sephiroth…"
"Rumors," I mocked, "Is that all these idiots have to go by? All these people died five years ago and nobody tries to figure out what actually happened?"
The bartender, Joe, was wiping a mug dry with a rag at the moment and also watching the TV. Joe and I got to know each other soon after I became a regular at his bar. I always sat alone at the same stool at the counter and always just ordered beer. He knew me for my scythe, which I almost always kept with me, I knew him because he was the bartender. He was a man in his forties with a few gray hairs. He was at least a foot shorter than I was and had a little potbelly. We sometimes talked to each other a little. That day, it was about the stuff in the broadcast.
"I dunno," he answered, "All I know about that town is that the Shinra Mansion's over there, and that the mansion was the only thing that stayed in one piece after the fire. I think they use it as a tourist attraction now."
"And they rebuilt the whole town soon after it was burned to ashes and dust," I added, "What I don't understand is why they put in hired actors to act like the townspeople instead of leaving it like a REAL town and letting people move in."
"I guess they just wanted to keep alive the memory of all the people whose lives were lost in the destruction."
"Isn't that what religion is for?" I asked bitterly and coldly. I guess that fifth pint was a little too much.
A second later I heard footsteps walk up behind me. I turned around to get a good look at this stranger. He wore a strange purple outfit, a skintight, sleeveless, turtleneck shirt and baggy pants. On each shoulder he had armor that was twice as big as the shoulder, at least an inch and a half thick. Each piece had two blunt spikes sticking out on top. His belt was also a piece of armor. It was a good two or three inches wide. He wore thick black gloves and wrist armor twice as thick as his arm. His hair was in a braid that went down to his knees and the color was somewhere between dark brown and black. His eyes were a bright green. In fact, they were so bright they were almost glowing. On his left arm, he had a tattoo of the Roman number XVII. I immediately recognized the uniform.
He was a member of SOLDIER, a highly elite organization in the Shinra military. They go through intense training and at the end they are exposed to a high amount of mako energy, an operation courtesy of Professor Hojo, the President's hired scientist and inventor. The SOLDIERs were skilled warriors, and the most famous SOLDIER was Sephiroth.
"There's nothing sadder than a raving drunken woman," said the stranger from SOLDIER as he sat at the stool to the right of me.
"Oh, shut up!" I snapped at him.
"Geez, you're nice!" He replied sarcastically.
"What'll it be?" Joe asked him because it was his job.
"I'll have a Brave Moomba," answered the stranger. Joe poured a few different liquids into a mug and handed the man his drink.
"Brave Moomba?" I wondered out loud, "Who comes up with the names for these drinks?"
"For your information, Miss Lenore, the drinks in this bar are of my creation," answered Joe, "And the names I chose to give them suits them fine. If you'd order something other than beer, you might've noticed that by now."
The stranger turned to me and looked at me for a while.
"What is it? Did your boyfriend recently dump you or something?"
"I've never had one, so I wouldn't know what that's like."
"How odd. I should think a lovely woman such as yourself would've had plenty of boyfriends by now. Well, maybe that's your problem," he said calmly as he sipped his drink, "The name's Raven. And you are?"
"Not interested," I answered in a dull tone.
"Hmm, easily angered."
"Nah," Joe butted in, "just when she's drunk."
"Really?" Raven replied, "How is she when she's sober?"
Before Joe could open his mouth, "Bored out of my wits because of my oh-so-exciting job!" I burst out.
"Really? What do you do?"
I did a quick nod to Joe, and he ducked down behind the counter. He came back up a second later holding my scythe in his hands.
"I hold that while standing in front of a door hoping some idiot would at least TRY to break in."
I looked over at Raven, who seemed to be lost in thought staring at my scythe.
"What, does my favorite toy scare the baby boy?" I mocked.
"You don't actually use that, do you?"
"Why do you think good ol' Joe keeps it behind the counter?"
"I normally don't confiscate weapons," Joe began, "mostly because most of my regulars are armed soldiers who know not to use their weapons out of duty. Then one day, some guy pissed her off while she was drunk."
"And?" Raven urged.
"A few seconds later I had to call a clean-up crew to pick up his decapitated body."
"Good Lord! What did he do?!"
Joe put the scythe back behind the counter.
"He was hitting on me," I answered just before taking another sip of my beer. The mug was almost empty after that sip.
"Dah!" his response as he cringed into his stool, "You weren't kidding when you said you weren't interested."
"No kidding?" I answered sarcastically, "What could've POSSIBLY given you THAT crazy idea?"
"Crimeny, Woman!" he yelled out, "It's almost as if you didn't WANT a more exciting life!"
"First of all, the name's Moira!" I snapped, "NOT Woman!"
"Wow! I got your first name!"
"Second of all, I -"
"Don't want a love life," he interrupted, "Got it."
"I just don't see how love can be any more exciting than guarding President Shinra's meeting room door."
"Well, that's because you've never tried it for yourself, but I see now that you're just not interested and nothing's gonna change you're mind. So I'm not pushing any further."
"Good." I sipped what was left of my beer and got up off my stool.
"Leaving so soon?" Raven whined.
"Yea," I answered as I began walking away, "I think I've had enough."
"Enough beer or enough of me?"
"Both," I growled walking away from the counter and out the door. I waited outside the door for a while as Joe came up with my scythe in his hand.
"Miss Lenore," he started, "Might I suggest you not be so negative about things? You're just about my most violent customer."
"And?" I asked dully.
"And I think you're like this because you're lonely and in need of a companion."
I looked down at Joe for a bit. "What?"
"That's right. I think you're angry and violent because you're lonely."
"That's pretty corny, Joe," I replied.
"Well, unlike the guy you so casually beheaded, this Raven guy was sober when he started putting the moves on you."
"Sober? Really? How interesting. NOT!"
"Ya know, maybe I should try talking to you when YOU'RE sober. The beer makes you unreasonable."
"Yea, and you would know how reasonable I am when I'm sober?"
"I have a pretty good idea, considering you walk in nice and calm and walk out in a state of utter gloom."
"Nice and calm, right." I rolled my eyes and looked back at Joe.
"The point I'm trying to make is you should at least try this Raven guy out. Get to know him, and give him a chance to get to know you."
This was beginning to sound fishy to me. Joe's never insisted that I try anything, unless it's to try and order something other than beer.
"Ok, what's going on? Who is he and why are you insisting that I go out with him?"
He looked nervous after that, and I was willing to bet he was glad he was the one holding the scythe and not me.
"Ah, I, uh, well, you see, um-"
"Enough with the interrupting verbs! Just tell me! Who is he?"
"Ok, ok," he answered and took a deep breath, "His name is Alan Usher, but everyone calls him Raven. He's a first class SOLDIER and pretty good with pistol-blades."
"Wow, a SOLDIER," I replied sarcastically, "As if I couldn't tell by the doofy purple uniform and the Roman number tattooed on his arm. Oh, and not to mention that freaky green glow in his eyes that say that he's had some of Hojo's mako treatment."
"Hey, I know this guy pretty well. He's my best friend's nephew. I've seen him in the bar a lot, and he's had his eye on you for some time."
"Uh-huh," I replied rather bored of the ongoing conversation that was leading nowhere, "And?"
"And he's asked me to try and talk to you about it in the very likely event that he should fail to charm you."
"Oh gee Joe, I dunno," I responded sarcastically, "For some reason, the thought of going out with some mako-driven punk in a purple jumpsuit doesn't exactly sound like a fun idea to me."
"Well, at least it's better than the life you're leading now."
"Can I have my scythe back?" I was getting tired of the discussion and wanted to leave. I reached my hand out to grab the scythe, but he pulled it away before I could touch it.
"Not until you agree to try him out."
"Will you stop saying 'try him out?!' You make it seem like he was some sort of totally new outfit or a foreign snack food or something!"
"Well, fine! Just go out with him for a while. Talk to him at least, and no, those cynical remarks you used tonight don't count. So in other words, while you're SOBER!"
"Ugh! Come on!" I was getting frustrated and really didn't want to agree with this deal, but I knew he wasn't giving me my scythe back no matter how long I went on. And I was too drunk to think of just snatching the scythe away.
"You don't have to date him for very long. Just go on one or two dates, have a couple of lunches together, and get to know each other. If you still don't like him after a couple of weeks, all you have to do is just break up with him. It's as simple as that. Girls your age do that all the time."
"You mean girls UNDER my age. The only reason any girls my age would do anything like that is if they started that habit early in life."
"Hey, if they can do it, why can't you?"
He made it seem simple, but I knew there were many other factors involved in a relationship. Though, at the moment all I cared about was shutting him up, and I wasn't in any condition to think about things like that.
"Ok, fine! I'll go out with him! Just give me my scythe back!"
"Alrighty then," he said calmly as he handed me my scythe.
"Later." I took my scythe and went on my way home.
When I was halfway there, a small creature popped up in front of me.
"Kupo! Hi, Miss Moira!" It yelled out happily as I kept walking with it floating in front of me. It was a small creature, probably about a foot tall. It looked like a pink koala, but with really small cat-like ears and slits for eyes. It had small, dark pink, bat-like wings on its back and a pom-pom thing dangling on a wire growing out of its head. This little creature was a moogle, and a very annoying one at that.
"Go away, Bibble!" I groaned, not in the mood to deal with her. I always found her annoying for several reasons. One of them was that she had this uncanny ability to read my mind and the annoying habit of reading it when she was least welcome.
"Eww, you're drunk!" She tended to speak in this annoyingly childish tone.
"So what's it to you?"
"Kupo! But you're gonna have a headache in the morning!"
"Just that? Wow, interesting. Go away."
"And it is most certainly not the right way to make a first impression on a guy like Mr. Raven, kupo."
"I am not interested in 'Mr. Raven' thank you."
"I know, but you DID just agreed to go out with him, kupo, even if it was just to shut up nice old Joe."
"Why won't you just leave me alone?"
"Aww, fine! Be that way, kupo!"
"Fine, I will! Just leave!"
"Cranky-face meany! Kupo!"
"I could've called you names and sliced you in half. That would've been even meaner."
"Kupo! But you CAN'T slice me in half. I'm immortal and indestructible, 'member?"
"Grrrr..."
"You're no fun to talk to when you're drunk, kupo."
"So I hear."
"And you're almost home, so I'm leaving now. Bye, Miss Moira."
"Good."
I got home and went straight to bed.
I awoke the next morning to a knock on the door. I got up out of bed, and then I wished I hadn't.
"Oooooh…" I groaned as my head started pounding. I once again lectured to myself, "That's what you get with five pints of beer."
I grogged my way over to the door. I looked through the peek-hole in the door to see who it was, but all I saw was a big fat rose. I opened the door and found Raven standing there with a fresh cut red rose in his hand and a dopey-looking grin on his face. He wasn't wearing his SOLDIER uniform this time. Instead he was wearing a gray suit with a white shirt and a red bowtie. I didn't get why he would wear such a thing.
"Good morning, Sweet Lady!" He greeted.
I stared at him sleepily and angrily. I didn't quite appreciate being caught in my pajamas; especially by someone I had only met the night before at a bar.
"Morning?" I uttered, "Why'd you come in the morning? And what's with the fancy-shmancy threads?"
"I thought we should get an early start. When Joe came back into the bar and told me that you agreed to go out with me, I figured you might want to spend a day to get to know me. The suit is just for formal show. I wanna make a good impression on the girl I'm trying to get a date with."
"Early start... Good impression... Thing... " I repeated, but it wasn't quite processing yet. "What?"
"Well, we have to start sometime, right?"
"Uh-huh..." I must've had a dead tired version of the spaced out look on my face because a few moments later, he stepped up close to me so his face was inches from mine and said, "You're not so hung over that you forgot about your little agreement last night, are you?"
I had to think about that for a moment, but then I remembered agreeing to go out with him. Then I thought to myself, "What have I gotten myself into?"
"Did you forget about me?" he asked with a pouty five-year-old look on his face. "Please say you didn't."
"No," I finally got my brain working properly, "I just wasn't fully awake yet. It takes me longer to get myself thinking straight when I've been rudely awakened, especially the morning after I've been drinking."
"Oh, ok," he replied. About two seconds later, he held up the rose and said, "Flower for the lovely lady?"
I took the rose and looked back at him. I saw a pathetic smile on his face and a look in his eyes that said, "She's hot."
The look on his face just seemed so ridiculous to me that I couldn't help but start laughing.
"Huh?" his reaction to my laughter. "What's so funny?"
I just continued laughing, but by then it sounded more like giggles.
"What?! Is there something in my nose? In my hair? What?"
"Oh, just come in," I invited and he stepped into my living room. "Have a seat."
He sat down on the couch as I set the rose in a vase. "Would you like anything to drink?"
"Anything with caffeine, please," he answered. He just sort of quietly sat there slouched over on the couch as I went over to the kitchen and took a headache pill, watered the vase, and brewed some coffee. I then put the vase on the windowsill above my kitchen sink.
When I was done making the coffee, walked out of the kitchen and into the living room with two mugs of coffee in my hands. I found Raven hunched over on the couch. He seemed to be just staring at his shoes.
"So," I decided to speak up quite loudly. He jumped up and quickly looked around and seemed to just realize he was in my living room. "Geez, did I take that long?"
"Oh! Um, well, hehe... This couch is just so comfy, you know?"
I handed him his coffee. "This should keep you awake."
"Heh. Thanks." He sipped a little of his coffee and set the mug on a coaster on the coffee table in front of him.
"Alright, Mr. Allen Usher," I started as I sat on my recliner a few feet away from the couch.
"Please. Call me Raven."
"Ok, Raven. Tell me about yourself."
"Ah, me first, huh?"
"Yup, you first."
"Well, where do you want me to start?"
"The beginning is always a safe place to start."
"Well, ok then."
So he began telling me his life story. We went sipping our coffee as we talked.
"Well, I was born in Mideel," he started, "Undoubtedly, the most boring town anywhere."
"Well, you've never been to Kalm."
"Actually, yes, I have been to Kalm. In fact, it was during the Tournament of the Blade. Now don't tell me that Kalm is dull with an annual event like that. Mideel has NOTHING. Nothing remotely interesting EVER happens. The most exciting thing about Mideel is the giant windmill in the middle."
"Isn't Mideel also where you can get the most info on the Lifestream."
"Ya, only because everyone's obsessed with it. It's all anyone ever talks about over there. It's always 'Lifestream' this and 'Lifestream' that. Quite frankly, I don't find it remotely interesting. What could possibly be so interesting about some glowing underground river that nobody knows even exists? I was never one who liked studying things or reading textbooks for fun. I always desired action and technology, which by the way is ALSO not found in Mideel."
"Lemme guess, the greatest piece of technology there is the windmill?"
"Exactly. So, when I became old enough to move out, I came straight to Midgar, the city of pure technology."
"I think it looks awesome from high above, where you can see all the reactors and the Shinra building and how everything is connected. You don't quite see that when you're living in it."
"Ya, I guess so. I joined the army almost as soon as I got here. I later discovered this really new weapon called the pistol blade. It's like half handgun and half knife. Good for both far and close range."
"Interesting weapon."
"Ya, and later I signed up for SOLDIER. I didn't really think I could make it in because it was rumored that they only take guys from Nibelheim, but then I got accepted and was well on my way. I got the uniform. I went to Hojo for the mako treatment."
"What's that for anyway?"
"I have no idea. Hojo said it was for enhancing your skills as a fighter, but so far I haven't seen any difference in my skills other than what I get from regular training and practicing. As far as I'm concerned, it's a placebo."
"It made your eyes glow green. So you can't say it did nothing."
"Yea, they were originally dark blue."
"So, then what?"
"After successfully joining SOLDIER, I found out a friend of my uncle's also lived in Midgar, namely Joe. So I became a regular at the bar after that, but I don't really drink a lot there."
"And how did you get the rank of First Class SOLDIER?"
"Lots of hard work, lots of missions, and lots of patience."
"Cool."
"So what's your story? How did you wind up in the drunken mess you were in?"
"My story started in Kalm..." I went on to tell my story. I told of how I've always wanted a scythe. I told him how I met Jamie, how Will helped me accomplish my goal, and how I flew to Midgar.
"Wow! It must've been awesome flying over Midgar, seeing the Shinra building right there in the middle and all the mako reactors."
"Yea, it was an amazing sight."
"And it must've been really cool to have your own chocobo."
"Well, technically he wasn't really my chocobo. He was Will's."
"Yea, but in essence he was actually your chocobo. You were the one who named him. You were the one who rode him every night. You were the one who taught him how to fly and trained him to master it. You flew with him all the way to Midgar."
"Yea, Jamie was a wonderful chocobo."
"And ever since you settled down here, Joe's been your only friend?"
"Well, he listens to me rant about how much I hate my life, and he hasn't complained about it yet."
"It's not his job to complain to the customers."
"My point is he listens."
"Hmm... I guess it just happens when you've been a bartender as long as he has."
"The truth is I never really wanted to be a security guard."
"Then, why did you end up being one?"
"Lack of options I guess. I think I would've tried to join SOLDIER if they allowed women on."
"Oh?" He raised an eyebrow at me. "I thought you said we were all just a bunch of mako-driven punks in purple jumpsuits."
"Uh...!" I blushed, embarrassed hearing my own words thrown back at me. "I... uh..."
"You were drunk," Raven answered for me, "People say things they don't mean when they're drunk."
"Eh, heh-heh-heh... Well, That's no excuse..."I chuckled, rather embarrassed.
"You're cute when you blush."
"Um..." I hesitated a bit. "Do you wanna go for a walk? I think we should go for a walk."
"Need some fresh air, huh? Alright, let's go for a walk." We both picked up our empty coffee mugs, and he followed me into the kitchen. We left our mugs on the counter and back out to the living room.
"I think you should change first," Raven suggested, noticing that I was still wearing my pajamas.
"Yea, I think that would help." I went to my room and changed, and we walked out the door.
"So, where are we going?" He asked almost eager to know.
"Uh, out," I answered.
"Out? Out where?"
"Out there. Out to walk around."
"How 'bout the Shinra Park?" He suggested with a smirk in his voice, as if he planned to go there from the beginning.
"Shinra Park?" I looked at him suspiciously.
"Yup."
"All the way at the edge of Sector One?"
"That's the one."
"Uh, ok." We walked up the street for a bit.
"How did you know where I live?"
"A little moogle told me."
I thought about it for a moment. The only moogle I knew about was Bibble.
"Did this moogle happen to be pink with a blue pom-pom dangling over her head?"
"...Huh?"
"...Never mind."
"Joe was the one who told me where you lived."
"...Oh." I felt foolish for a few seconds, because as far as the average person is concerned, moogles are nothing more than magical myth and legend. Like the Golden Chocobo and the Knights of the Round summon materia, nobody thinks it really exists. After getting over the embarrassment, I decided to change the subject back to what was happening at the moment.
"So, how exactly are we going to get to Shinra Park? Sector One is not exactly up the block and 'round the corner."
As I was saying this, he looked like he was looking around on the street for something.
"You'll see," He answered as he stared far down the street behind us, and seemed to have found what he was looking for. "There he is."
"There who is?"
"Hang on a sec." He waved his hand high in the air, as if to signal someone where he was. I was beginning to wonder whether or not he was in his right mind, but then a chocobo-drawn carriage rushed up next to us. It was a really fancy carriage, just like the ones that were used in the old days, with no roof or walls so you could see everything. It had two rows of passenger seats, one in front facing backwards, and one in the rear facing forwards. There were two chocobos pulling the carriage, directed by the carriage driver who wore a really fancy suit and a hat with a chocobo feather in it.
"...Woah," I was amazed. Raven stepped next to the carriage and held out his hand toward me.
"Milady?" He said, faking a fancy accent. I smiled and took his hand. I sat on the rear seat, and Raven quickly followed me up and sat next to me. He put his arm on the back of the chair behind me. The ride was a little bumpy on the way, but it was an exciting experience. I'd never ridden in a chocobo carriage before, so I sat back and enjoyed the view. I was letting myself get lost in daydreaming thought when Raven spoke.
"First time in a carriage?" He asked.
"Uh, yea," I answered, "I've never really done anything exciting after moving to Midgar, other than wander around the entire place as soon as I got here."
"Was it interesting in the slums?"
"It's filthy, the people are poor, and the atmosphere is terrible."
"Do you mean atmosphere as in the not-so-breathable air, or do you mean atmosphere as in how comfortable it wasn't."
"Both. It smelled awful and I didn't feel safe at all while I was there. I felt way better after getting back up to the plates."
"Uh, how did you get back up? Because I keep hearing that it's way more difficult going from slum to plate than it is from plate to slum."
"The mako reactors. For each reactor, there's an entrance in the slums and an entrance on the plate. It took me a while to get through either way. Those reactors are huge, and they're built like mazes."
"Wow! That's great for a newcomer to Midgar. Who would've thought you could be beautiful, tough, and smart?" He seemed really impressed by it, leaning back into his seat looking up at the sky. It was almost as if he was falling further in love with me the more I talked about myself.
"Yea, well..." I was about to say something when I noticed a large entrance sign passing by that said "Shinra Park."
"Uh, Raven? I think we just passed the park."
He snapped out of his trance and looked back to see the sign.
"Damn! You're right!" He told the driver to stop the carriage and we got off at least half a block away from the park. He got off first and held out his hand to help me off. I accepted his hand and stepped off onto the sidewalk.
As we started walking toward the park entrance, I began to wonder how I got myself into this mess. I thought to myself, "You shouldn't be dating anyone. You don't NEED anyone. Why ruin your life with just another love story ending in heartache?"
"Are you ok?" He snapped me out of my train of thought as we arrived at the park entrance. He looked concerned.
"Yea," I answered, "I just never thought I'd ever go out with anyone."
"You thought you were doomed to forever be a security guard with no other purpose in life?"
"Heh, yea basically."
"You never really wanted to be a security guard, did you?" he asked.
"No, not really. I actually wanted to lead an exciting life full of adventure and life-threatening danger."
"Sounds like the dreams of members of SOLDIER."
"Do SOLDIERs do anything interesting?"
"We get sent to various towns around the world, mostly just to protect the town and its people from monsters coming in from the outside of town."
"I remember a SOLDIER visiting our town when I was young. It was during the Tournament of the Blade."
"That's always been my favorite event. I watch it on TV every year."
"So do I. Though when I still lived there, I watched it live and then later on TV. The guy from SOLDIER participated in the tournament."
"Hey, I remember that! It was a really long time ago. I was around nine eight or nine years old when it happened. Sephiroth was over there."
"Yup, and he won too. I was in the front row watching the whole thing."
"Wow, that must've been amazing."
"Yea, it was one of the more exciting events of my life."
"Well, I hope I'm able to make your life a little more interesting."
"You know what? In a way, so am I."
We walked on through the park, looking at the squirrels playing on the grass around the trees. Passing the chicobo-breeding center, where they bred chicobos, baby chocobos, and raised them to become some of Shinra's top transports. The breeding center was opened to visitors to see the little chicobos. We decided to go there and see the chicobos. It looked a little bit like an aquarium, but with dirt and dry grass instead of water. Some of the "tanks" each had a newly hatched chicobo while others had some older chicobos that had just grown in their fluffy feathers.
"They are so adorable!" I squealed out looking at one of the tiny chocobos. I just about surprised myself, because I'd never talked that way before.
"So, you like the chicobos?" An old stranger spoke up out of nowhere. I looked up at him to see who he was. He looked like he was in his late fifties or something. He somehow looked familiar to me, but I couldn't quite figure out why.
"Hey, William!" Raven greeted.
"Allen, m'boy! Long time no see! And who's yer lovely friend?"
"Her name's Moira."
"Hi," I greeted.
"Moira? You wouldn't happen to be Will's little Moira Lenore, would ya?"
"You know Will?"
"Know him?! He's my brother! You would not believe how much he talks about you. The last thing I heard from him was that you moved over to Midgar, and since then I've wanted to meet you."
"Wow, I'm famous."
"Yup."
"This was quite unexpected," Raven added.
"No kidding," I replied. "I never thought I'd see one of Will's relatives here in Midgar."
"Well, we're all over the place," William responded.
"Does your whole family take care of chocobos? I know there's Bill and his son, Billy, at the Chocobo Ranch, and Will has a small stable just outside of Kalm."
"Yes, just about all of us are in the chocobo business. Bill and Billy are my nephews. If you want I can show you where the chicobo petting zoo is."
"Petting zoo?"
"Ya, that's where we keep our chicobos that can walk and squawk like an adult chocobo. The visitors come to pet 'em a lot, and they're just the friendliest little things."
"Sure," I answered and we walked through a hall and a door to get to the petting zoo. There were chicobos all over the place. Some were running, some were sitting, and some were jumping in the air flapping their little wings making little "wark" noises.
"Here ya go, kids. Enjoy. I have some hatchling chicobos to feed, so I'll have to leave you be."
"Okay William," Raven answered. "Later."
"Later, Allen. And it was a pleasure to meet you, Moira."
"Sure," I replied as he left. A small chicobo ran up and started rubbing its head on my leg.
"Wark!" he squeaked.
"Woah! Hey, cutie." I bent down and petted the little chicobo. Raven bent down next to me and petted him too. He fluttered his wings seconds later and started running circles around us. We sat down on the ground as this little chicobo kept going around us. When he was finished circling us, he starting doing a strange little dance. I laughed as I watched him. It was not just because he looked funny dancing around like he was, but also because it reminded me of the time I spent with Jamie.
"Hyper little guy, isn't he?" Raven spoke up.
"Yea, he reminds me of Jamie and all the fun we had together."
"Do you miss him?"
"Yea. And since Will set him loose, I'm probably never going to see him again."
"You never know. Maybe you'll be lucky and find each other again."
"You're probably right."
After a few minutes, some more chicobos came around. Within seconds we were surrounded by these little yellow feather dusters.
"I guess William wasn't kidding when he said the chicobos were friendly," I commented.
"No kidding."
We spent nearly an hour petting all the chicobos. When we were able to get out and back into the park, we walked around a bit more. As the day rolled on, I we went on getting to know each other. I found out that he got the nickname "Raven" from his hair. It was so dark, it could've almost been black, and his bangs stuck out in such a way that it looked a little bit like feathers.
It didn't seem like long at all before night fell, and the park was lit up with a series of lamps that lined the walkway. By that time, Raven and I had arrived at the very center of the park, where there was a large lake. There weren't any lights around the lake, but the light from the walkway, was enough to be able to see the surroundings. The moon was full and high in the sky, with its reflection dancing on the lake's surface. The only sounds were the chirping of crickets and the croaking of frogs, blending in rhythm and creating a natural symphony.
Raven and I walked around the lake until we found a wooden park bench to sit down on. We sat down and looked at the lake. There were a couple of ducks swimming around on it. I looked up to the sea of stars, revealed by the near lack of light around the lake.
"The sky is so beautiful tonight," I commented.
"Maybe," He replied. "But not as beautiful as you are."
I looked up at Raven, who apparently was looking at me from the moment we sat down. His glowing green eyes gleamed with emotion.
"Really?" Which was all I could think of saying.
"Yes. You are the most beautiful woman I've ever laid eyes on."
I never expected a comment like that. I just sat there, amazed that anyone would think that of me. Raven just sat there, as close to me as he possibly could with his arm behind me. At the same time he was respectfully keeping his distance by not putting his arm around me. We were just staring at each other with our faces just inches away from each other. A moment later, Raven suddenly turned his face away, as if ashamed of something.
"I'm sorry," he said, "I shouldn't have said that."
I too turned away, trying to find something to say.
"No, I don't mind," I responded, "It's just that I'm not used to people saying things like that."
"Well, anyone who doesn't is a blind fool," he looked back up at me with a crooked smile on his face and the same gleam in his eyes. I looked back at him and smiled.
"How long have you had this feeling for me?"
"I don't really remember how long it's been, but I do remember that I first saw you in the 60th floor of the Shinra Building. I was talking to a few of my buddies from SOLDIER when I saw you standing in front of the elevator door."
"It was that long ago? That was less than a year ago, before they installed the key card readers into the elevators."
Raven scratched his head in embarrassment. "Um... Yea. It's been that long."
"Of all the things I was trained to notice, I didn't notice you at all."
"It happens. A couple of months ago, when I went to Joe and told him about you, that's when I found out that you were a regular at his bar. Since then, I sat at the corner table, watching you drink your way in and out night after night."
"Ok, that is not one of my greatest traits, so why did you stay around?"
"I was hoping to get to know you once you actually knew I existed. A couple of nights ago I asked for Joe to help me to get your attention. The night after, I actually walked up and talked to you, failing miserably in making a good impression."
"The fact that I was drunk didn't help any."
"To put it lightly, it was a good thing that Joe had your scythe."
"Yea, that sounds about right."
"When Joe came back in and told me that you agreed to go out with me, I asked him how he did it. He didn't answer."
"He held my scythe hostage until I agreed to it."
"Yea, that sounds like something Ol' Joe would do," he chuckled.
"And in a way, I'm kinda glad he did. This has been the best day I've had in a really long time."
"I'm glad I was able to give you such a day."
Our eyes met again, this time it was as if they were magnetically locked on each other. It seemed like our faces just got closer and closer. They went from inches to centimeters to millimeters apart. Then... the ground started shaking violently.
"Woah!" I screamed and grabbed onto Raven as he wrapped his arms around me.
"Earthquake!" Someone yelled out somewhere.
Almost a second later, I heard the sound of a huge explosion in the distance. Raven and I held onto each other as the ground kept shaking. A few moments later, all the lights went out. When the ground finally settled down, I realized what I was holding on to and let go immediately. Raven was also rather embarrassed and let go at just about the same time.
"What just happened?" I asked with a shocked tone in my voice.
"I... I'm not sure," he answered nervously, "Whatever it was, we're gonna have to somehow find our way out of here in the dark."
"I wonder what that explosion was."
"I think right now our main concern is getting out of here."
We got up off of the bench and started walking. We had only walked for a few seconds when we found a bright light in our faces.
"Hello?" A woman's voice called out. "Is anyone there?"
"Yea!" Raven called back. "We're right here!"
"Ok, hang on!" The light became closer and brighter until the light moved aside to reveal a lantern held by a woman who looked like she was in her early thirties. She wore a brown Shinra Park employee uniform and a visor to match.
"Do you know what happened?" I asked.
"Other than the power went out, I don't know," she answered, "I don't think I can explain anything that just happened."
"Well, can you help us get out of here?" Raven asked.
"Yes I can, I was sent specifically to help evacuate the park." She turned around, pointing her lantern forward. "Follow me."
After a while of following, we picked up some more visitors that got lost in the dark. By the time we got back to the entrance, there were at least twenty people in our group. After leaving the park, we noticed that it wasn't just the park's electricity that went out. The entire area seemed to be left in the dark.
"Looks like the only light that hasn't failed us yet is the moon," Raven commented.
"I'd like to know what's going on," I replied.
"Well, I guess we'd have to get home to find that out."
"How do we get back to Sector Three?"
"Don't worry about it. We'll get there."
And he kept true to his word. We ended up renting two nighttime chocobos to get us through the sector. When we got to Sector Two, we noticed that the electricity there was still on. So we got off the chocobos and started looking for a different mode of transportation. We ended up taking a train to Sector Three, after which we walked the rest of the way. When we finally got to my house I was dead tired. I opened my front door and stepped through it. I turned back around and saw Raven just standing there, again looking at me as if I was the greatest thing in the whole world.
"It was some night, wasn't it?" I said.
"Yes, it sure was," he replied. "Let's hope our future dates don't turn out to be that exciting."
"Hm."
There was a long pause after that.
"That is of course," he continued, "If there will be any future dates."
"I'd like to think that there will be."
"Well, that's great! See you tomorrow then?"
"Sure, but not so early next time."
"How does three o'clock at Joe's sound?"
"Ok."
"Great!" He stepped up and took my hand. "Good night..." He pulled my hand up and kissed it. "Sweet Lady."
I smiled at his gesture, wondering where he learned his old-fashioned manners.
"Good night, Kind SOLDIER."
He started walking backwards for a little while, and then he turned around and headed home, occasionally turning around to see if I was still watching him leave. When he was out of my sight I shut the door and walked over to my bedroom. When I got there, I fell onto my bed and fell asleep almost instantly.