Wonderful World
An AU parody inspired by "As Good As It Gets"; beta-read, reviewed and edited by Howling WereWolf.

Well, folks, I'm home! Actually, I've been home for several days now; I just decided to make my boss happy and finish up what I could while I was on a roll.

Anyway, here it is again. Please enjoy.

Extra - I recently got my hands on an edited picture of Leon (by Flypipe), and it inspired me to write something for the Advent Children movie. While I was at it, I found out what caused Geostigma, and how it was cured.
Which brought one minor problem - Aeris isn't dead.

Sorry, folks, but in order to keep things going the way they are, I'll have to throw in the infamous Edit for Fiction Purposes...what can I say? I'm sorry!

As a further note, this chapter is speeding things up by a lot. Meaning, a time change of several days, weeks and everything. You get the idea, I hope. I'm sorry to rush it, but that's what happened in the movie as well - the focus just wasn't on Melvin Udall and Verdell bonding that much.

The door to the shop Highwind's Repairs swung open, and the small brown border collie pup known as Angelo padded out onto the front step, sniffing carefully. At the door, Cid waited for the little critter to do its thing.

"..."

Cid checked his watch, then continued to wait for the puppy to do something.

Do anything.

He checked his watch again some time later, then glared at the puppy still on the front step.

The puppy let out a small bark.

"GO ALREADY!"

With a startled yip, Angelo took off out of the store and into the street.
Leaving the door open for the puppy, Cid muttered under his breath as he whipped up another bit of straw, chewing on it dejectedly.

Aeris was late; something that was not as common as he would have liked.

When she finally did show up, she was not alone either.

Cid nodded absentmindedly in response to the greetings as he watched two young girls make themselves comfy on the floor with whatever portable games they had brought with them.

Aeris, laying out the platters of food on the table, folded up the box as she looked outside at the puppy half into a bush.
"Is that your dog?"

Cid merely grunted in reply.

Aeris found the whole matter rather amusing.
"What is a grumpy old fellow like you doing with a dog?"

"...suckered in, duped, conned, pushed around..." Cid listed offhandedly, now looking at the dog outside as well.

Aeris and Cid watched as the puppy finally reemerged from the bush, looking more comfortable than earlier.

"You're not worried it might get run over or something?"

At her words, Cid was immediately on his feet once again. "Not until now, for pissake."

"...sorry?"

Cid strode straight up to the door and hollered out at the little dog. "GET BACK IN HERE!"

In the blink of an eye, the pup zipped back inside, freezing for a moment in the doorway before shaking itself thoroughly and scampering into the room.

The two girls stopped what they were doing as they caught sight of the little animal. The older broke into a delighted smile and held out her hand. As the puppy carefully approached to sniff at it, the younger got closer too and copied her actions.
Soon, the three of them were like the best of buddies, the two girls petting and tickling the little animal as it squirmed with pleasure.

Aeris watched them for a moment, then smirked in Cid's direction. "You know, you could learn a lot of people skills from that dog."

Cid merely grunted before nodding in the girls' direction. "...did something happen?"

"What do you mean?"

"You bringing them with you; hiking them all over the place like that sure can't be bonding."

"Oh, and you care?" Aeris added a laugh to the statement. Then, under Cid's pressurizing stare, she sighed.
"Denzel had a full-blown attack last night. Tifa's brought him to the lodge again, and hasn't come back - last call said something about them giving us the wrong medication just for further excitement."
Then she changed the subject as she looked down at his order again. "What's with all the extra meat? Decided to swear off your favorite fries?"

"...forthedog," came a grumbled reply.

Aeris' eyebrows shot upward. "What?"

"It's for the dog. I've been feeding him my leftover bacon and sausage. Then I turn on the radio, and well, he likes it. So I thought, I'd make a little joke, and..." Cid drifted off as he studied Aeris' expression.
"...what's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing! So you're all set here? Good! See you next call! Let's go now, girls!"

Still wearing that bemused look on her face, Aeris ushered out the disappointed girls as they headed out of the store once more. The puppy, slightly rumpled from the play and still flat on its back, rolled back upright and appeared very disappointed itself.

Cid grumbled to himself as he pulled out a few strips of bacon from his burger and laid them with the extra platter of sausage, all before setting the platter to the floor.

"...just get over here and eat, you stupid dog-eared gopher."

The dog did not complain.

"...I think it's a pretty good day for working in; very nice."

Cid was once again at his work bench, fiddling carefully with the broken radio that was still somehow not fixed. Lying on the floor and looking rather satisfied, Angelo watched him at his work silently.

Then the infamous large rat ran by, sending the pup up on its feet once more. Although Angelo no longer sought to grab the rat in its mouth as it did before - that was disgusting enough - the little critter found some excitement in chasing after the terrified pestilence, seeing how much it could worry the rat before it disappeared down a hole.
Cid had long since given up trying to kill the confounded pest, and came to take this source of entertainment when it came.

The rat saw the pup coming for it once again, and let out a terrible, high-pitched scream as it fled, a pair of teeth-filled jaws snapping inches from its tail.

As they bounded all around the room, Cid watched with resigned amusement as they once again made a mess of the already messy place.

Then the rat bounced off the bench top and away. Cid's eyes widened as he saw what was coming.
"Oh no, you d-"

Then the puppy jumped up onto the bench top as well, smacking the nearby spanner to whack into the broken radio, Cid getting his hands out of the way just in time.

"SON OF A-" Cid just started to swear when he stopped and listened. Then he reached over and tentatively turned the knob as he tuned the radio.

click!

"And for tomorrow's weather forecast, we'll be expecting plenty of sun, with brief showers over some regions..."

"...fixed it," Cid got out, then turned to look at the confused puppy that had hastily leapt back to the floor. "...you bloody fixed it."

As the weatherman continued his forecast to the disinterest of both characters, Cid got to his feet and pumped his fist triumphantly.
"This piece of junk is off my hands!"

Angelo yipped as Cid strode over and rubbed its head in a rough manner.

"Yes, I hate the doggy. Oh, yes, I hate the doggy..." Cid muttered to himself, grinning from ear to ear as he headed off to call his client. "I've got it made, baby! FIXED, damn it!"

Angelo wagged its tail, then started shaking its fur thoroughly.

It took some more days, but the fixed radio finally left the store once and for all, and Cid had more munny down his pocket.

As the client left with his appliance, Cid spotted Angelo just a little behind him and sitting down. As he walked up to him again, the puppy yipped and wagged its tail as it waited hopefully.

"You're a bloody little genius, you know that? What's the matter - you want my place around here when you grow up, you little bugger? Well, I'm gonna tell you something! I'm gonna give it to you real good, too...and I'm gonna show it to ya... C'mere, kid."

His hands slipping easily under the pup's forelimbs, he lifted the little animal up to eye level.
"Don't be like me; don't you be like me. You stay just the way you are, cos' you are the perfect man. Now you just wait, and I'll get you something to eat! What you love, you hear me? You like the sound of that, fella?"

Panting slightly, Angelo wagged its tail harder.

"Yeah, I know you do, critter. Now let's get back inside and get you something! Yeah, let's nuke up that meat and fire up the radio, just the way you like it!"

Setting the pup back down, Cid strode back in toward his living quarters, the little animal scampering to keep up.

Sora sighed as he sat down again, a stack of papers in his hand.
"Cloud, let me get this straight - you and Leon have been working with swords, blades, axes, pole arms, guns even...and neither you have medical insurance?"

Cloud, looking more of his old self save for his mending arm in a sling, shrugged. "We couldn't afford it when we first started out, then later it just didn't occur to us..."

"This isn't helpful to your situation at all, you know that," Riku commented, flipping through another stack of papers that he had. Bills of all kinds, either under Cloud or Leon's name, and seemingly repetitive over their request for payments.

"Thanks for the encouragement there; I appreciate it," Cloud responded dryly. "...so I'm going home today, huh? Not much of a homecoming with all this paper, is it?"

"Afraid not."

"So how's Angelo doing?"

Sora coughed nervously and sent a quick glance in Riku's direction; the older boy took it from there.

"Your dog's fine, Cloud; as a matter of fact, we'll pick him up for you after we drop you off."

Cloud looked from one to the other, a skeptical look on his face. Then he shrugged it off and turned to rise.
"...well, I'm ready to get out of here, so help me."

"Here we go, now; your usual lunch and radio service courtesy of Highwind Kitchens."

Cid popped open the microwave oven door and lifted out the extra platter of sausage in cheese sauce with bacon strips on top. Poking at the food with a fork to check the temperature, he was finally satisfied and set it down.

Angelo trotted in, wagging its tail as it eagerly sought out its stomach's desire.

"...what are you doing in here? I can't work in a kitchen pad with a dog stepping all over; come on! When you gotta wait, you gotta wait. What've I taught you about basic courtesy-"

Ring! Ring!

"And that will be the door. We don't want customers while we eat, we don't. I'll just see, now..."

Wiping his hands off on a cloth, Cid strode out to the shop entrance and pulled open the door to Sora and Riku.
"...oh, it's you two."

"Cloud's home."

"Oh, really?"

Sora nodded. "He's still healing up, and there's still some time before Leon comes back too. He needs this time to think, adjust, get ready for what's coming."

Cid shrugged. "Hell, it's been weeks and weeks; the dog staying for a few more won't matter."

"No, actually, he'd like Angelo back right away," Riku corrected. "We came by to pick him up."

Cid went silent, shifting from foot to foot restlessly. "...I see. So that's how it is."

"We would have called before we came by, but your line was busy-"

"So you want the dog now, eh? Take the dog, then."

Cid turned to where Angelo had followed him out and scooped the dog up, dropping him into Sora's arms. "There! Now get off my property before I hurt you!"

Sora and Riku were a little lost for words, then hurried out before the man could explode in their faces. "Uh...thank you! We're come by for the rest of the stuff late-"

"BEAT IT!"

"Thank you!"

In a hurry, the two boys dashed away from the shop and back toward Cloud's place. Watching them go, Cid slid the door shut again and went back inside.

He retreated back to his small kitchen pad, and looked down at the platter that he had taken out of the oven moments ago. The cheese sauce was already setting again into a rubbery consistence.

Groaning, Cid buried his face in his hand, sliding the palm slowly up and down as he breathed slowly.

"...I'm okay... I'm okay... It's just a dog...
"Just an ugly dog..."

"Hey, Cloud! Look who's come home!"

Cloud looked up from where he had sat himself on the couch, and his expression brightened as Sora set down a familiar puppy on the floor.
"Angelo! Angelo, come here, baby! Come on, sweetheart; come here!"

The puppy looked up at Cloud and wagged its tail, but remained down in the spot that Sora had set it upon.

The three watched the little animal and waited, then Sora hurried inside and fetched out a new box of dog treats from the kitchen. Cloud took the box gratefully and grinned at Angelo's nonchalant form.
"I know what you want...!"

Opening the box, Cloud reached inside and took out a small dog biscuit holding it out in Angelo's site, whistling to the pup as he did so.
"Come on, now! Where's my little boy? Come here, Angelo!"

The dog didn't even bother to raise its head this time as it stared in another direction.

Cloud's face fell as he slowly withdrew the biscuit, the confusion evident on his face.

"...how about I bring him over?"

"No, no, don't...don't force him."

Sora carefully sat himself down on a different seat, a small distance away from Cloud. Riku remained near the door, staring at the unresponsive dog on the floor nearby.

"...sorry, Cloud."

Cloud didn't answer for a while, still staring at Angelo as his expression went blank and dull again.
"...damn it, what happened...?"

No one could really answer.

Can't say I didn't have fun in Ontario; I was just tired, I guess. I apologize for taking as long as I am, and I wish I could do something more about my commitment.

Perhaps this is why I never really had a girlfriend... I didn't just say that out loud.

Niana Kuonji: As the story goes, this happens; sorry if it seems fast, but this does not serve as the main plotline, but a necessity for the story to go on.

Silent Scope: Yes, here we are.