18
Junon:
Under the Coastal City
Cid parked along the elevated plains outside Junon, just to keep the airship out of Shinra's radar. It was about a mile walking towards the coast, getting flashbacks of our first time venturing through here when we first met Yuffie.
"Brings back memories, doesn't it?" Yuffie sang, her thoughts there too. She gave me her large, shimmering brown eyes, smiling so big, it could hardly fit the width of her face.
I smiled back, glad to be outside, smelling the sea air.
"Gee, I wonder why?" I nudged, and I gave her a wink.
"I remember seeing Aqua's underwear," Cloud muttered.
I flushed, and slapped my hands on my sides as though my dress was going to rise and expose everything all of a sudden.
I turned to growl at him, "That's not what I meant!"
Cloud grinned.
"Yo, I remember the Chocobo chase. That was awkwardly funny," Barret added, and he and Cloud shared a chuckle. Reeve whined, "I want to hear this story."
Yuffie appeared to sulk, her pouty lips out as though trying to impersonate Aerith, but her puppy face didn't work nearly as well.
"You guys, don't you remember? This is where we met!" She cried, hands out as though ready to crush something under her fingers.
"Nope," Barret hummed.
"This is where we met?" Cloud joked.
"I can't remember," I teased.
Yuffie's face drooped. "You all suck," she grumbled, and marched on ahead.
The blue sky quickly turned grey, Junon inside a giant bubble of smog. When we entered, the sleepy fishing town under the city was the same as before. The five of us stopped along the one road entrance just to speculate over it, Cloud especially as he stepped forward. He frowned at the worn down homes, the beach slowly shrinking away to garbage and more sea.
"It's good to visit some familiar places again," he said softly, surveying the beach shielded by the airfield half a mile up. Even if the smog were, miraculously, lifted, these residents were never going to feel the sun.
Reeve looked up at the airfield, seeing nothing but metal arms holding a thick plate of concrete above our heads, and he shivered as though he feared it will fall down and crush everything.
"I've never been here before," he muttered, eyes growing as he analyzed the road with cracks and holes. The smog left a film of grey over the roofs of houses, like dried up moss. Stray cats were pawing at filth along the sandy beach. Being here seemed to strike a cord with Reeve, his eyebrows up and eyes steaming.
"This is awful," he whispered.
Barret walked on, not as affected.
"It's Shinra," he muttered, living through it for too many years.
Cloud stepped beside Reeve and advised, "It is what it is," and followed Barret.
Reeve seemed stuck in place, his thoughts spiraling with anxieties probably worse than mine. I came close to him and nudged his arm to wake him up.
"Reeve, I know it looks bad, but the folks here seem to make it work. They don't have to live here if they don't want to. No one is making them stay," I tried.
Reeve's limp hand came to life, curling into a fist.
"Yeah, but they got here first. It's their home," he said through his clenched teeth.
I had nothing to say to that, silently agreeing with him.
"Reeve, just come on. You can't do anything about it," Yuffie spat, rolling her eyes at him. Reeve swallowed, glancing at her before looking away quickly.
"I want to," he whispered to himself, and he began to move his feet.
We walked together through the main road, when Cloud asked, "Okay, how do we-"
"Cloud?!"
We all stopped suddenly, trying to find the source of that girly shriek. With another high-pitched squeal, Priscilla came out of nowhere, and wrapped her arms around Cloud's arm. She grinned from ear to ear, eyes closed and rubbing her round cheek against his skin.
"You're alive!" She sang, stomping her plastic slippers with excitement.
Cloud faintly smiled.
"Yeah, I'm alive. Good to see an old friend," he warmed, trying to keep his posture straight when Priscilla wanted to tug on him to her level.
There was a familiar squawk, and I was greeted by Butters, my old Chocobo friend.
"Butters, I've missed you!" I belled, sinking my face into her bright, yellow feathers. Butters cawed, dancing her long chicken feet legs, and flapped her small wings.
"A Chocobo here?" Reeve questioned.
"Long story," Barret shared.
"Did Cloud and his friends come to see me?" Pricilla asked, eyeing up at all of us with her glowing brown eyes. Her outfit of the day was another bright pink swimsuit, and a jean skirt. Her high ponytail smacked into Cloud's arm when she looked up at me.
"It's you, the magic lady."
I smiled as I knelt to give her a hug, though the child refused to let go of Cloud, so the hug ended up being me wrapping my arms around her small shoulders.
"Thank you so much for your help that day," I chuckled.
Priscilla squeezed Cloud's arm.
"No probs. Thanks for bringing Cloud back." And she scrunched her face as though ready to implode.
"We're getting married someday!" She shouted, her high-pitched voice traveling through the town until there were some stares.
Cloud's jaw dropped.
Reeve seemed completely startled. Barret, Yuffie and I just beamed, amused with children's thoughts.
"Uh," Cloud sighed, rubbing his face hard with his other hand. He didn't know what to say, not exactly good at playing pretend, but he gave it a shot.
"Someday," he finalized, turning to Priscilla with a small smile. This seemed to please the little girl, and she squirmed, jumping up and down while yanking on his hand.
"Goodie, goodie, goodie!"
We said our goodbyes, waving at Pricilla and Butters. Heading towards the edge of town, Reeve speculated aloud, "Cloud, is that true? You and that little girl?"
Cloud sank his face into his gloved hands and groaned.
"Do I even need to answer that?" He hissed.
I giggled at Cloud's misery, hands behind my back.
"Be careful, Cloud. Priscilla is going to hold you to that," I joked. Cloud peeled back his hands, only to hesitate when his cheeks were too red to expose. He looked at me with the corner of his brilliant blue eye.
"Then, I hope you're comfortable with a little competition," he quipped. I blushed along with him, and we looked away, equally abashed.
"Oh gawd, you two. Kill me, now," Yuffie whined, witnessing the whole thing between us. She dragged her cheeks down her face until we got to see the pink from under her eyes.
"Uh, I've been meaning to ask about getting into the city," Barret began, rubbing on his chin beard.
"Won't the elevator be guarded? Will they let us up there?"
"Elevator?" Yuffie gasped. She stopped on her tracks and spun on her sneaker to gawk up at Barret.
"Who said anything about an elevator?"
"Hell no," Barret fumed, big arms crossed. Yuffie opened the door to the stairs, gesturing to it as though she just did a magic trick.
"Tada!"
"No! Not again, man!" Barret growled. Cloud walked right pass him.
"Come on, Barret. Once isn't enough," he mumbled, and began to climb. I wasn't fond of the stairs myself, but I wasn't pregnant enough to make that my excuse. I sighed alongside Barret, watching Yuffie and Reeve follow behind Cloud.
"Uh, ladies first," Barret muttered, and he awkwardly let out a hand to have me go on ahead. I pressed my lips together and nodded, walking into blue light that emitted the entire tower of stairs.
"Tifa would love this," Barret hissed, stomping on each step with struggle as we went.
"I mean, damn, she loves this shit," he added breathlessly. It seemed the higher we climbed, the more he spoke, rattling on and on, having to pause after a few words just to gain enough air for more.
"Barret," Cloud sighed. "Maybe if you stop talking, it may make it easier for you to climb."
I looked up, finding Cloud and Yuffie far ahead, at least three flights up. Reeve fell behind, and I caught up with him as I watched how his hand pressed into his chest, his pupils tiny.
"I don't think my heart can take this. It's pounding so hard," he gasped, panicking.
I pressed my ear into his chest without permission, startling him.
"Uh, you don't have to-" I lost track of the rest, listening to his fast but completely normal heart rhythm, though it was pounding hard against my ear.
"You are just not used to exercising. You have no endurance, yet, but your heart won't shut down on you," I mentioned, reeling back and started the stairs again.
Reeve stammered on a step.
"A-Are y-you sure? I mean, I-I've had some pretty bad habits."
He began to follow me, asking questions about his health and suddenly, I was his health coach on the stairs. Barret was still complaining, adding to Reeve's voice echoing up the stairwell.
"Oh my gawd, Reeve," Yuffie scoffed, her whining only making it even louder.
In the midst of all that, I smiled to myself when I heard Cloud groan, picturing him covering his ears.
After all of that, we made it to the airfield.
It wasn't as deserted as it was before the wedding. Instead, it seemed busy, many planes coming and going. I shivered, seeing it all coming back together: the wedding, Scarlet's attempt to finish me, and losing Isaac. The winds were strong up here, slipping through the wool, not making me feel any better.
The grey sky made it all look drearily, the high sun and Meteor fuzzed like dim orbs.
Last to finish the stairs, Barret crumbled, hands over his knees, huffing as he tripoded his chest to take more deep breaths.
"Fuck me (huff) that's (huff) the last (huff) time!"
Reeve was sweating by the time he caught up with us, his navy blazer slumped over his shoulder while his white button shirt perspired.
"Never again," he sighed.
I was breathing hard, feeling my own heart pound, along with a cramp in my belly. Leaning against the door, I sighed, exhausted and feeling out of shape.
"What a bunch of babies," Yuffie smirked at the three of us.
Cloud seemed unaffected, standing there as he thought of our next move. He looked at everyone.
"Now's the time to get gear and stock up in town. Reeve, I need you to find a way to get us access to the lab. Can you do that?"
Reeve stood up, fanning himself with his hand.
"Yeah, I think I can do that. I have a few friends here who may help me out, though it's risky," he replied, still breathless.
Cloud's eyes glowed with Mako, and he nodded to all of us.
"Good. Let's meet back here in half an hour," he declared. We all agreed, and everyone split up.
I gazed out along the edge of the airport, seeing ghost versions of me and Isaac. There was this lingering of belief that he may still be alive, but my gut told me different. I wanted a moment to be in that spot, trying to bring it all back together, and walked towards it. Cloud watched me walking away. As he followed, he asked, "Where are you going?"
It wasn't far, just fifty steps or so, and I frowned deeply when I found myself in that exact spot where Isaac fell.
"This is where Isaac died," I finally answered, still searching for him over the murky waves. At this point, he would've rusted or decomposed. I tried not to imagine it and shut my eyes tight. Cloud's footsteps came closer.
"Here, huh?" He stood next to me and crossed his arms, surveying the horizon under an oozy looking sky and Meteor.
I crouched low, sitting on my heels, as though that would help my eyes see into the water far below, hands fiddling together.
"I still can't believe he's gone," I whispered, uncertain if Cloud wanted to stick around to listen. He didn't have to, and I voiced that to him.
Cloud shrugged, frowning.
"I'm staying with you. You need to process, I get it, so take your time," he muttered. I looked up to find him dropping his eyes into the water, though he wasn't searching, just lost in thought as his eyes filled with Mako.
"Aqua, if he was alive, would it be…." he swallowed.
"Would it be any different?"
I hugged my knees, my dress stretching out as I curled in more, and sighed out against the winds coming in from the ocean. I think I knew what Cloud was trying to ask me. If Isaac was alive, how would it be any different between us? He's on Shinra's side, and I'm not. There would still be an unsettling tension between him and Cloud, and the bouts of interaction that left the two of us either regretting or venting.
"I just liked knowing that he was alive," I muttered lamely, playing circles with my fingers along the cement. I hugged my knees a little tighter, my hair lifting as I returned my gaze to the ocean.
"That felt enough," I finished, tucking my chin into my arms. Only my eyes were free, squinting from the gusts.
"It's strange," Cloud started, lost to the dark sky.
"In the beginning, I remember you were so keen on getting back to your world, to go back to him." He blinked, forcing the Mako to hide behind his eyes.
"Look at where we are now."
I smiled mildly against my arms.
"Yeah. Funny how life works that way," I voiced.
Our serene moment broke away when someone shouted from behind us, "Hey!"
I gasped, rising to spin around and discovered four Shinra guards frowning at us.
Cloud turned and calmly crossed his arms as guns unlocked and aimed for our chests.
"We've heard about you!" one of them spat at Cloud, jabbing the nose of his machine gun towards him.
"But dude, what about the other one? Is she still Rufus's fiancee? I can't keep up, man!" Another jumbled, sweat dripping from his helm.
Cloud grinned cruelly, a hand up to the handle of his sword. His eyes flashed.
"Aqua, use your shield," he demanded from me, taking out his massive sword.
"I need a warm-up," he muttered.
"Fire!"
I gasped, hot hands lifted, and my green shield encircled me. Bullets bounced weakly against it, barely feeling their impact. Having only to experience Cloud's sword, the bullets felt like mosquitos in comparison.
Cloud seemed excited finally to let the Mako wash through his body, helping him quicken his step to slice a guard in two pieces in only a second. He threw his sword down, and cut into the shoulder of another without a pause, almost too fast for my eyes to keep up.
Blood spread quickly, two bodies down. The third barely had time to turn and run, when the sharp corner of the Hardedge sword latched onto his upper spine. The poor guard stiffened, trembling as blood oozed from his back, and he collapsed in a seizing fit.
Cloud swatted at the fourth, cutting his gun in half right from his trembling hands.
As the two pieces of his weapon clanked over his boots, the poor, lonesome guard shook. I could only imagine his young eyes wide behind his helm.
Cloud grabbed him by the collar and sneered, "I want Rufus to know I'm alive and here. You think you can do that?"
I dropped my shield as I gasped, "Cloud," startled at his judgement.
The guard clasped his gloved hands, nodding so hard, his helm almost bumped into Cloud's face.
"Y-Yes! I will!" he whimpered, chin white.
Cloud shoved the kid so hard, he tumbled back, falling multiple times as he tried to scurry away around planes, heading towards the airport building.
"Cloud," I feud, standing close to him. He was taking deep breaths to calm, the Mako bright in his eyes.
"I know that was bold," he was saying, afraid to look at me in case his eyes would be too daunting to gaze upon.
"But if I kill him here, then there's no need for worrying about the rest, is there?"
I caught his glance, giving me a glimpse of how much bitterness he was trying to suppress as he put away his bloody sword. He had a point, but that could jeopardize our plan.
"It may give us too much attention now. Shinra will know that we're here," I argued gently. Eventually, Cloud relaxed, and when he turned slightly to look at me, the Mako dimmed.
"Then bring it," he simplified, stone-serious. I sighed, knowing too well when Cloud was itching for a fight, he was set on it without budging. I just hoped he wasn't being too cocky, especially since he hasn't been in battle since his coma.
My cheeks puffed with hot air as Cloud turned around, taking in the view of Junon's main city in the distance, but most importantly, it's cannon.
But….
"Hey, whatever happened to the cannon?" he asked, crossing his arms as he speculated over how Junon looked to be missing something significant.
I walked next to him to have a look. The cannon used to be monstrous, something to see easily half a mile ahead. Now it was just an empty space, and the slanted copper building of Rufus's headquarters under the smog didn't seem as daunting as it used to be.
"Rufus has his team modifying it," I answered dryly, vaguely remembering his plan.
"Where did it go?" he asked, eyeing me with a bit of suspicion.
I shrugged.
"He never said," I answered, hiding into myself. At the time, I was physically present at those meetings, but I wasn't really there, just a walking zombie.
I shuddered, holding myself tighter.
"I wasn't in a good place, so I hardly remember any of the meetings. I was…" I ducked, dropping my last word with a whisper, "far away," and let it drop into the sea.
A hand slid around the curve of my waist, Cloud's warmth welcoming. Gently, he said, "It must be difficult for you to be here. Are you sure you want to keep going?"
I nodded.
"Yes. I want to get over this," I insisted, lifting my determined green eyes to him.
Cloud tried to smile, but with difficult thoughts in his mind, he held a crooked grin, trying, but also distracted.
"Then we better keep moving," he advised, taking my hand to follow him out the airport.
—
The five of us gathered inside the main elevator. It closed its doors, trapping us inside its metal walls. Reeve used a special keycard he borrowed from an old co-worker. As he swiped it into the control panel, he wrinkled his forehead.
"I am not confident how lucky we will get once we're down there," he explained, and his hard, brown eyes drifted to nothing, his thoughts already in worst-case scenarios.
Yuffie was showing off new Materia she just stole-I meant, bought. She bought it…
"Check this out," She boasted, showing off the bright yellow orb. In her other hand, her large shuriken glowed, electrical sparks running along its four pointed edges.
"This Materia gives my weapon electric damage. Useful for water battles, no?"
She looked at all of us for amusement, itching for approval.
"Yuffie, be careful with that," Barret grumbled, and he stepped a little farther away from the held weapon filled with sparks.
Reeve shook his head at her.
"There shouldn't be any underwater battles. To get to the reactor is all tunnels," he mentioned.
Yuffie rolled her eyes as she put away her weapon on her back strap, her ego balloon deflated.
"You guys are no fun."
Cloud said nothing, standing quiet with his arms crossed, but I could tell, he was itching for more fighting, his body tensing as the elevator took us farther under the harbor. Reeve and I shared a look, our memory down here together coming to both of our thoughts, but we didn't say anything, probably because it was too depressing.
"Reeve," Cloud called, alerting the ex-Shinra employee. Reeve straightened and gave his attention to our leader.
"What should we expect down here?" Cloud asked him.
Reeve swallowed.
"Well, there are a few labs, and of course, the tunnel towards the reactor. If my intel is right, Shinra is extracting it as we speak. The three other Materia are in Scarlet's lab."
"What about security?" Cloud pried.
Reeve shrugged.
"There are probably a few troops. I can't say," he struggled.
"Dude, does it matter? We gonna kick their asses anyway, whether it's ten of them or hundreds," Barret snickered. I watched how his robotic arm transformed into a sleek, machine gun, its gears whining in the process. He almost looked to be his old self, one hand a gun again, and he grinned.
I gave Cloud a worried look, and he caught it, more relaxed than I was.
The elevator dinged.
Doors began to slide open, Yuffie ready to skip out with a bright smile.
"I can't wait to see the huge-" her eyes popped, and she came to a halt.
"Shit," she whined.
A dozen armed Shinra troops were already waiting for us, all their gun lasers brightening inside the elevator with glowing red dots. Cloud pulled out his sword just as I extended out a green lit hand to cast a spell.
We stepped into battle, bullets firing. I jumped away in time, holes hitting the walls, and threw a blizzard attack.
Yuffie gladly threw her electrified shuriken.
Barret fired from his machine gun arm.
Reeve coward away from the range of fire, his back pressed against the elevator's control panel, hands over his head.
"I'm not liking this," he complained, wincing at the loud gun fire.
My ice spell frozen three troops, turning them into complete ice sculptures. Barret shot them to pieces. Yuffie's shuriken zapped the rest to stung them slightly, enough to pause their guns, and that was enough to give Cloud an advantage. He swooped in, body glowing in Mako, and cut his way through. One troop lost an arm, another, a leg. The way Cloud fought seemed the most aggressive. Barret left bullet holes, but Cloud left behind blood and limbs, hacking away like a butcher on speed.
The last body fell. From the elevator beyond the first stretch of aquarium tunnel, there was nothing but bodies and blood. I trekked over them uneasily, hearing their whispers as their green energy dispersed, falling into the Lifestream.
Just to be sucked up by Sephiroth.
I narrowed my eyes when I realized that for every kill we made, we were slowly just feeding our enemy.
Cloud put away his sword, and looked at his reflection among the glass through the tunnel. I wondered if he liked what he saw, but he didn't change his glum look, just blinking at himself while ignoring the ocean floor with debris.
Barret looked up along the glass walls, eyes stuck to the dark, smoky water of Junon's bay.
"Whoa, I better be careful. Is this glass bulletproof?"
Reeve winced, picturing the tunnel collapsing under the water's weight if the glass were to break.
"Let's not find out, please," he croaked.
Yuffie's eyes caught up to the lit surface, waves rolling high above.
"Wow, this is cool," she breathed, stuck in place.
"We need to hurry. It's obvious they know we're here," Reeve panicked, hiding purposely behind the rest of us.
I could hear the ocean gurgle behind the glass, it's familiarity spooking me. Carefully, I scanned through what I could along its bare floor, ignoring the rolling cans and glass bottles. What if I saw Isaac's body among the filth? A ghostly image of his face being eaten away by fish, left me edgy.
When the tunnel split into three directions, more Shinra troops showed up, only SOLDIER. Two 3rd class SOLDIERs in their wine red uniforms and metal helms, blocked our path, their double handed swords ready.
"Don't let them through," one of them shouted.
Cloud stepped forward.
"I got this," he pressed, pulling out his sword. Under the small lamps, we could all see the scattered blood glow over his blade.
There was hardly any fight, Cloud too quick and powerful to let it even be considered a warm up. 3rd Class SOLDIER was nothing compared to his experiences, his slashes practically knocking a sword out of one's hand before piercing through his metal plate. The other lost a leg, falling head first, and groaned in pain. Cloud ended his life quickly with a jab in the back, and pulled his sword free with a yank.
"Show off," Barret muttered.
We looked at our three choices of path, a few jellyfish floating over our heads.
"Which way?" Barret asked? "Are we going to the lab or the reactor?"
Reeve thought about this, fingers rubbing his dark, fuzzy chin.
"I'm wondering if we should split up, just to save time?" He asked, his eyes turning to Cloud for any advice.
Cloud considered this, crossing his arms while watching a jellyfish propel away from the glass.
"It doesn't sound terrible, but we need you to access them both," he told Reeve.
A keycard was brought out, Reeve practically lifting it up for Cloud to take.
"Here. For the lab. I need to put in a code manually for the reactor, but you can get into the lab with just this. Aqua's been near it, she'll know where to go."
I choked, not remembering hardly anything except Isaac on a hanging in an electrical lab.
"Uh, I do?" I challenged Reeve, bug-eying him with a hand to my chest. He nodded, surpassing a smile over my reaction when things were too serious for a chuckle.
"It's just the next door North from Hojo's small lab," he verified, suddenly handing the keycard to me. I gripped it tight, seeing how its plastic skin gleamed under the light.
"She won't go alone," Cloud demanded, though he seemed indecisive. To trek to the reactor where there could be more battle, or to keep an eye on me at the lab? That's what seemed to trouble him as I analyzed his strained expression.
"I'll go to the reactor with Reeve," Barret declared, already marching that way.
"And I'll go the other way to the lab. Let's meet back here?" I suggested, my feet walking in the opposite of Barret and Reeve.
Cloud made a face.
"Yuffie, go with Barret, I'll go with Aqua," Cloud ordered.
Yuffie rammed her fists on her hips and bent forward to stick her tongue up at him.
"Of course," she nagged, not surprised with his decision.
Cloud ignored that and passed her, following me.
"Let's get this over with."
The two of us walked quickly, heading towards Junon. The water appeared to lower, until its surface was easier to notice, the gloomy sun trying to break through its rough waves.
"I could've gone alone," I began, wondering if it was the best idea for Cloud to come with me, but he preferred not to hear it, blinking at my words as he marched a few steps ahead.
"And have you out of my sight? No, thanks," he muttered.
I blushed.
Along beside us on the ocean floor like giant sand worms, Mako pipes followed, leading into the city from the reactor behind us.
I eyed the glow of Mako lighting up the water, bubbles of the toxic stuff bubbling to the surface from cracks in the pipes.
"Well, no surprise the Mako is leaking into the ocean," I muttered, displeased to see it in action, just like oil leaks in my world.
Cloud eyed the bubbles with disinterest.
"Shinra doesn't care," he put flatly, not desiring chatter, even with just me at times. I knew not to take it personally, aware that his mind was just set on the mission, taking it with a linear shot. I kept quiet, squeezing the keycard in my hand.
We were getting closer, the layout more familiar to me when I recognized the doors to Hojo's lab. Cloud kept his eyes out for more enemies, but surprised not to find any.
"There should be more of them," he sighed, strange seeing the tunnel deserted.
I shrugged. "Maybe they thought there was no point. We're killing everyone they throw at us. Save a few men."
Cloud eyed me carefully, uncertain if I was jabbing at his killing spree or just processing my words with thought.
"No," he said, looking ahead again. "Shinra isn't concerned with that either. Stay on your guard, okay?"
I tensed, nodding, and stayed a little behind him until we finally found the doors we wanted.
"That must be it," I pointed it, taking the keycard up to a sensor. A red light turned green, and frosted glass doors whooshed open. Cloud pulled out his sword and went first. I followed, easing inside cautiously.
Something felt off, I could tell within the quiet, dim lab, as though we entered a shop already closed for the day.
I gazed upon glass tanks around the edge of the large room, five of them, and empty. The metal tables and lab stations had been cleared, equipment put away. Only the gentle hum of computers and blinking blue lights gave life to the cold place.
Cloud returned his sword on his back, sighing.
"No one's here," he muttered, analyzing a computer.
I came up close to a large tank, wondering what might've laid inside, and found drops of water still clinging inside the glass.
"They emptied these tanks recently," I noted aloud.
"That's not all," Cloud started, his face lit up by a computer screen. I approached him to look over his shoulder, and read what he was looking at.
The blue screen displayed the information about the tanks, their status: Large Materia Aborted.
"Shit," Cloud cursed behind his teeth. "We're too late."
Suddenly, the lab lit up with a large digital screen, almost too bright. Cloud and I shielded our eyes, unaware that a screen was taking up one side of a wall before, and I heard a familiar voice.
"Now you're catching on," Rufus chimed in, as though he heard Cloud's last words.
My blood ran cold.
Cloud turned, squinting to the bright screen where most of Rufus appeared with his pale colors, like his skin, his white business suit and light colored hair. A demon in disguised as an angel.
"Rufus," he growled.
I dared look, partially hiding behind Cloud as I gazed over his shoulder to find a zoomed in video of Rufus smirking at us. The President rested his chin over his laced fingers, and bright, blue eyes twinkled towards Cloud.
"Ah, so it is true. You're alive Cloud. I had to see it to believe it. I thought Palmer was pulling my leg, but then I got word you wanted to see me."
He unlaced his hands, and rolled them towards the camera with a bow of his head, as though presenting himself.
"Well, here I am."
Cloud clenched his teeth.
"Not like this!"
Rufus cocked his head a little, revealing a red cushioned chair behind him, and the dark sky of Midgair beyond that.
"I have no time for such rivalries," the cool man chatted, dusting one of his sleeves with a brush of his fingers. That only seemed to aggravate Cloud, his plan to have a showdown with Rufus ruined. It seemed our mission failed, and he knew it was his fault, the guilt only adding to his frustrations.
"Fucking coward," he hissed, eyes as bight as his anterior lit from the screen.
Rufus's eyes locked with mine and I averted my gaze, my heart rate increasing until my chest hurt.
He saw this, and smirked.
"Excited to see me, my dearest?"
I curled my arms around my stomach, disgusted with the way he said that, and hid further behind Cloud, not saying a word.
Rufus sighed, as though hurt by my avoidant behavior.
"Such a pity you hate me so much, even after spending so much time together," he fretted, sounding bitter. "But alas, I have other matters, including keeping the Huge Materia from all of you."
I twirled around, suddenly blurting, "Are you really planning to go to my home world?"
Rufus seemed please to have my attention now, his smile widening. A few, loose blond hairs touched his lifted cheeks when he replied simply, "Yes. I plan to live, after all."
I shook my head at his cocky smile.
"Rufus, you don't know what you're doing. My world has its problems that aren't too far off from yours. You don't belong there. Please don't do it," I trembled. Just leave my world alone.
Rufus's closed lip smile shrank.
"I know exactly what I'm doing. I'm going to send myself and my men out of this ghastly place. You two and your bloody unborn child may die here like one big, happy family," he mocked.
Oh no.
"What?" Cloud breathed. I froze when he looked over his shoulder at me, and I turned my head to avoid his heated gaze, knowing exactly what was going through his mind.
Rufus laughed lightly, very excited with where this was going.
"Oh? You didn't know?"
Cloud swallowed.
"I knew, but," he dropped his head, blinking back a stung feeling that may be growing inside him.
"I didn't know that you knew," he finished, muttering those words as he processed this.
I shrank, pushing my palms into my eyes.
"Stop," I begged, wishing for Rufus to go, having enough of his games.
"Oh yes, of course I did. Difficult to hide such a secret when you live with someone for a bit. Aqua and I have had our share of secrets while you were dead somewhere."
"Rufus, stop!" I cried, covering my ears. I didn't want to hear him anymore. Make him stop, please!
Rufus always seemed to enjoy it when he struck a nerve from me, appreciative of my suffering.
"What's wrong, my lost love? Afraid that I will tell Cloud too much?"
Even with my hands over my ears, I could still hear the muffling of his horrible words. My eyes burned, chest tightening with little room to breathe. I shut my eyes hard, not wanting to see him nor hear him anymore.
"With all the things I did to you, didn't you have a litte fu-"
There was the sound of glass shattering, startling me to pop my eyes open, and find the lab dimmer. Cloud breathed heavily, his body lit up bright by the Mako until he was able to cast a blue glow in the lab, everything touched by his light. Beyond him, I spotted his sword wedged up there on the screen with glass falling around it.
Before Cloud had a chance to attack me with his ferocious eyes, I collapsed down on my knees, burying my wet eyes into them, shrinking away while my wheezing intensified.
Did he see me as a liar? A woman too contaminated by Rufus's hands?
I began to sob.
My ears picked up Cloud's boots inching closer, and then just hearing him say my name gently.
"Aqua."
I stayed in my little space, curled in tight.
His knees bent, and then hard hands gripped my shoulders.
"Look at me."
I lifted my teary eyes, brushing away my hair, and sniffed up tears. Behind my white hair, I could see Cloud putting in much effort to relax his gaze, but he was still in his Mako lantern mode. He even tried to smile for me, and nudged my shoulders as he said softly, "It's okay. He's gone."
But that was only the partial reason for my distress. I hated to admit that I was also afraid of Cloud's reaction, how he felt, his thoughts and if he was upset with me. It was not my intention to have him deal with this.
"Are you mad at me?" I felt like my six-year-old self, back to a memory of upsetting my parents and asking them the same thing when I thought I did something wrong.
Cloud bit his lower lip, dropping his eyes.
"No, not mad…" he began, trying to find the rest of his words carefully.
After he found what he needed to say, he returned his gaze, and took a deep breath through his nose.
"Just…disappointed," he sighed the last word with concern, displeased to admit his troubled feelings.
I gasped through my tears, rubbing them away as Cloud said in a low voice, "We have to leave, but that doesn't mean I don't want to talk about this later."
His gloved fingers helped with the tears, cupping my cheeks, and I nodded.
"O-Okay," I gasped, feeling sick to my stomach. A delayed morning sickness was brewing, making it that much more difficult to get up, but with Cloud's help, I rose, my legs rubbery.
"It's okay," he assured, split between staying in his fighting phase versus lover phase. His hands trembled, like they wanted to squeeze instead of hold, his body cold instead of warm when he pulled me into his arms.
"This is difficult for me, when I'm like this," he explained, trying to be supportive when the Mako encouraged him to be aggressive. I let his arms crush me, burying my face into his chest even when I found it hard to breathe.
"I know," I whispered, understanding completely.
I was thankful that he really tried.
—
I dried my eyes as I sprinted next to Cloud, heading back the way we came.
"I wonder if that means the Huge Materia is already taken from the reactor as well," Cloud wondered, running a few steps ahead of me.
I didn't answer, finding the look on Yuffie's face enough reason to believe that we were too late. She frowned at us, Barret stuck with his arms crossed, and Reeve walking up to Cloud hurriedly with, "They took it! They knew we were here before we even got down here!"
Cloud rubbed a hand over his face.
"This is my fault," he shared, squeezing the bridge of his nose to fight an oncoming migraine.
"What do you mean?" Barret simmered, his anger cooking.
Reeve spread his hands out between the two men before things got too heated.
"Look, enough! We can blame who later. If we hurry, we may be able to catch the Materia before it takes off in a plane for the North Continent."
There was still hope.
The five of us ran back towards the elevators, a ticking clock hissing at us. Who knew if the plane has taken off already, but we had to try.
The elevator doors were in sight.
Unexpectedly emerging from another tunnel to block our path, familiar bright, red hair appeared, its ponytail waving at us.
Reno.
He turned his head, turquoise eyes smirking at us, while he slumped his electric rod over his shoulder.
"It took you guys long enough," he chirped, as though just passing through, and even waved, but I knew he was just making fun of us. He was here to stall us, when we stopped. Six Shinra troops emerged, settling in front of Reno to protect him, their shields and guns ready.
Cloud glared at Reno, prepared for a fight when he held his sword steady in his hands.
"If you know what's good for you, then get out of our way," he warned the Turk.
"Fuck this talk. Stop wasting our time," Barret barked, and he lifted his gun arm.
Six Shinra officers shoved their way through, ramming their body shields towards Barret to block his bullets, and they fired back with pistols.
I summoned a shield to protect me and Reeve, stopping bullets from hitting us. As soon as they hit my shield, they fell, clanking loudly against the cement.
Yuffie threw her electrifying shuriken, hitting two heads. Two bodies fell, shields and pistols scattered, and the two men convulsed with lighting traveling through their bodies like having tonic-clonic seizures.
Cloud and Reno wasted no time.
They clashed their weapons together, Cloud glaring while Reno smiled.
"Just like old times, hey Cloud. I can't believe you came back from the dead," Reno scoffed, and he ducked his head back in time to let the Hardedge sweep just over his nose.
Cloud became displeased, hitting only air, and glared at Reno with his Mako eyes.
"I thought you would've missed me, so I came back," he muttered sarcastically. Renos eyes hardened, and he dashed to drop his rod down on Cloud like a mighty bolt of lightning. He was too slow, Cloud already in another spot, and his glowing blue arms swung his sword so fast, Reno almost losing sight of it.
I watched how the Turk lifted his right hand up, to shield himself from being decapitated. Maybe he thought losing a hand a second time was better than losing his head. Though, strangely, his hand blocked Cloud's sword, sounding like metal hitting metal.
Cloud jumped back, puzzled by what he hit. Whatever it was, it was sturdy enough to take a swing from his giant sword without so much as a cut in Reno's glove.
Reno chuckled, withdrawing his hand from his neck.
"I've been wanting to show you my new toy," he hissed. Like he wanted to glorify it, he lifted his right hand, and peeled back its glove by its fingers. He kept his eyes on Cloud with victory already. Quickly, he pulled away his leather glove, and a metallic hand appeared. Reno's entire hand had been replaced, replicating Isaac's model. His fingers bent, light creeping in through the bends.
"Thanks to Hojo, I got a better hand," he sneered.
Cloud lifted a brow, uninterested.
"So what?"
One of Reno's red eyebrows twitched, and he curled his metallic hand tight.
"'So what'?! You asshole," he growled. Light formed from his palm just as Cloud jumped high in the air, ready for an overhead cut to finish him.
Reeve coward behind me, though my shield was wearing thin, taking the hits from bullets like scratches.
"Reeve, you need to go stop the plane," I grunted to him over my shoulder.
This startled him to the point of shrieking, "What?!" He seemed to rather be hiding behind me, practically squeezing around my ankle.
My shield was disappearing.
"Reeve, you may get killed. It's best to make a run for it," I encouraged, giving him a hard look.
Reeve gulped, his hands slipping away from my leg.
He switched gears, the frightened cat replaced by a brave man in a worn navy suit, and his brown eyes intensified.
"Okay," he finalized, and quickly, he collected himself and ran for the elevator.
"He's getting away!" Reno shouted, distracted by Reeve's escape. He shot a thin line of Mako from his palm, like a ray gun, and it missed Cloud.
My eyes widened, catching the ray hit the glass, and it put a hole through it.
"Oh no," I gasped, and then I held my breath.
Water trickled its way through almost innocently, cracks forming around it. Cloud noticed it before landing his attack, changing his mind last second to stop himself to twirl around and calculate the damage.
The Shinra troops who were left, stopped firing, freezing with fear.
Suddenly, we weren't enemies anymore, but stuck with the same issue, all of us potentially screwed, regardless of who won the fight. We held still, our eyes stuck to the glass when cracks traveled across it uncontrollably. More water made its way in, first as a sprinkle, but then it grew into a fire hydrant spray.
I was ready to run towards the elevators, when the glass broke.
"Run!" Cloud screamed through the crashing water.
A rush of warm ocean swept me off my feet, causing me to tumble backwards.
"Oh man!" Reno cried, him and his men carried with us. I thought I was on the sinking of the titanic, being shoved towards the elevators until I slammed into the closed doors, completely soaked. I spat out a terrible taste, not wanting to know what was in this water.
A hand gripped my arm, pulling me up.
"Are you okay?" Cloud asked. I wobbled next to him, the water already up to our thighs.
"Um, no," I gasped, panicking. I threw my hands up. "We're going to drown!"
Reno tried his card on the elevator, but the control panel was already wet, most of it under the water.
"Fuck me," he scoffed, tossing his keycard in the water like garbage. Yuffie took a face plant against the doors with a loud "oof," and she cried, "We're gonna die. We're gonna die!"
Barret struggled to stand, being pushed down easily by the growing current.
He leaned a hand against the doors to help him balance as he shouted, "What do we do, man?!"
Lucky for Reeve, he must've already taken the elevator up because he was nowhere to be found.
"Reeve must've made it," I cried, pressed to the doors while Cloud kept a hold of my arm. He and I shared a look, questions filling them until they overflowed. I looked to him for a plan, the water quickly rising. It reached around my shoulders, garbage, and jellyfish swarming around us.
Cloud looked worried, no plan, no idea in motion, and he silently panicked, his wide eyes searching around the parameter.
"Nice going, Reno," Yuffie spat, and she pulled on his ponytail.
"Hey, hey!" His head yanked under the water for a second, bubbles coming from his lips.
"I am NOT a good swimmer," Barret revealed. With his big size, heavy of muscle and metal arm, he struggled to float when the water tried to encase our lips. I kicked my legs, keeping my lips over the surface. Just a few feet above, the glass ceiling waited for us, edging us closer to drown.
I spat out water as I shouted, "Cloud, what do we do?" Desperately, I searched for answers in his eyes, but he was still thinking.
"Aqua, can your magic do something?" he asked, grunting when water splashed into his mouth. We hit the glass ceiling with groans, our hands up against it to see the surface not far from reach.
I was too panicked to even think much about it, anxiety taking over my ability to think.
"I don't know how. I wish we could just swim out of here. The surface doesn't seem that far," I wheezed. Cloud lifted his eyes, trying to ponder how far the surface actually was. He was aware it could be a lot farther than we all anticipated.
"Oh, swim! Hey, I got it!" Yuffie cried. The water tickled at our chins, all of us tilting our heads back to cough and inhale whatever air was available.
"Yuffie, what do you have in mind?" Cloud asked, almost kissing the ceiling.
She held her breath and ducked her head in the water, her hands running wild in her backpack.
"Yuffie, hurry!" I gasped, spitting back water when it tried to force its way into my mouth. I was running out of room, my forehead pressed to the glass.
"Shit, shit, shit," Barret grunted, coughing back water.
Yuffie's gloved hand rose, holding a shiny red Materia. She had no room to look at us, only for her lips to break the surface to shout, "Guys, take a deep breath, and hold it!"
I sucked in a breath as long as I could, but under an anxious state, it took a few tries, until, the last ten seconds, I had only enough air for one more try.
I closed my eyes, and gulped a big breath, lungs inflated and stiffening.
No more air to take, nowhere to go. I floated, holding Cloud's hand. I felt him squeeze, as though to reassure me, we were going to make it. I tried not to panic, not to open my mouth to take phantom breaths. The water was a bit cloudy, unable to see more than fifteen feet in front of me. I saw the struggled bodies of the Shinra men, Reno's head turning back and forth to find an exit. Fish looked at us like we were strange creatures, not belonging down here on the bottom of the sea with them.
Yuffie held up a red Materia, and it glowed.
With her thoughts, she cast a summoning spell, and a red wave of light pulsed, spreading out through the ocean with intense speed to search for the creature she wanted.
Ten seconds.
Nothing.
I waited, the urge to breathe increasing.
We threw eyes at each other, confused at the long wait. Another ten seconds, still nothing.
Yuffie made a worried face, tiny bubbles escaping from her lips. Did her summon work?
Reno groaned, his cheeks puffed with air, and with his metal hand, he punched a hole through the glass to swim out. I was tempted to follow him, though uncertain if I had enough air to make it to the surface now. It's already been half a minute of nothing.
Cloud was ready to shove me through the hole anyway, when we felt something huge coming towards us like an earthquake.
Whatever it was, it broke through the glass with ease, a massive water dragon with long whiskers. It rammed its green scaled head through the glass, breaking it apart easily, and opened its jaw of many teeth at us.
Dear Gods, I hope this is what Yuffie summoned, or else, we were about to become fish food. Barret panicked, ready to kick and leave, but Yuffie yanked him to settle, and she swam up to the water beast, petting its long head.
She took hold of a whisker, and gestured us to do the same. I kicked, reaching for a small fin. Cloud gripped its large scales and tensed. Bubbles slowly escaped from Barret's lips when he struggled to swim up to the giant sea creature, avoiding its sharp teeth and intense yellow eyes. He grabbed for a fin along its head.
We braced for it. I took hold as tight as I could, and the creature hissed before take off.
I felt a mighty pull, gripping to the translucent fin while a whoosh of water rammed over my face. The creature lifted, its head pointed to the surface, and kicked its long tail hurriedly.
I squeezed my eyes closed, the water too abrasive, and suddenly felt the air hit my face.
There were loud sighs, and Yuffie kicked her legs up while she rode the creature's back with a loud, "Yahoo! Yeah!" She raised a fist to the sky.
Water split apart from the creature's head, shooting through the surface like a torpedo. I laughed uneasily, feeling the water spray my face, and held on to to Yuffie's hips to get a better hold. Cloud squeezed around my waist with his arms, and Barret settled at the rear. The four of us enjoyed the ride, being taken back to shore outside Junon.
"Wow," Barret gasped, barely able to register what had just happened, wobbling off the creature to land in shallow water. He fell on his rear, sitting close to the beach while a sun glared over us.
Cloud jumped down easily, and pulled me into his arms to hold me tight, my feet floating.
"That was too close," he whispered, taking the moment to hide his face over my shoulder. I molded into him, grateful to be breathing air again, being alive without losing anyone. I could feel how he trembled, shaken from what we've escaped from. It wasn't like Cloud to be rattled easily. My stomach fluttered, feeling queasy, and knew it wasn't the typical morning sickness.
"That was so awesome! Thanks Leviathan!" Yuffie cried, trying to find a place among the creature on where to high-five, as if it knew what that even was. Yuffie's smile fell crooked, lightly smacking a floating fin to pretend it was a hand. In response, Leviathan hissed, and turned around abruptly, slithering back into the sea without so much as a kick of its tail to splash a wave at us. It disappeared, the waves calming, and the four of us giggled with relief.
"Yuffie, I've got to admit," Cloud started, taking my hand as we walked up to shore, sand finally under our feet. "You really saved us back there. That was a smart move."
Yuffie's smile was grand, her round cheeks red as she held her hips, and glowed up at Cloud.
"Thanks," she gushed.
"Yeah, thanks for saving our asses back there. You can be a smart kid sometimes," Barret grumbled, taking off his boots to empty them of seawater.
"Sometimes?" Yuffie latched, one hard eye on Barret.
I used a bit of fire magic to dry us, casting warm flames to bask in until we were damp instead of soaked.
We started walking back towards the airship, scratching our heads over what happened, and most importantly, where did Reeve go?
"Do you think he made it to the plane?" I asked anyone.
"Who knows. We will just have to wait and see," Cloud replied, water still dripping from his hair.
I looked up to the blue sky, glad to be out of the city again, when I saw a small plane flying in a little too low.
Through the air, it wobbled, as though the pilot forgot how to fly, and it was heading towards us crookedly.
"Uh, guys," I warned, my eyes glued to the incoming plane.
Its engine whined loudly as it came closer, its rotors suddenly appearing to be a threat. It was coming in too steep.
An arm in a dark sleeve waved at us.
"Guys, get out of the way!" Screamed Reeve, his head poking out of the window.
We scattered, the plane cutting through. Its wings whooshed over our heads, its tires screeching over the dirt road and into the grass.
Reeve screamed in a rattling voice, "I don't know how to stop this!"
Luckily, the plane stopped on its own, the tall grass getting caught in the tires until they were jammed with large, green knots. Smoke sizzled from the plane's front engine, probably overly exerted, and its rotors slowed.
As we ran towards the plane, Reeve kicked the door open, and collapsed in the grass, taking large breaths to calm himself, his face completely white.
When I neared, he buried his face in my dress, shaking so hard while his fingers squeezed its wool.
"Sorry. I need a minute," he gasped, still breathing hard while he endured a panic attack. I settled soft hands over his shoulders, trying to soothe him when I knew exactly how he felt.
"It's okay. You're alive. You're safe now," I whispered.
Yuffie jumped up and down, unaware of Reeve's unstable state, when she exclaimed, "Dude, you missed it! Dumb ass Reno broke the glass to the tunnels…" she continued, story-telling our little endeavor while Barret poked his head inside the small Shinra plane. "Any luck with the Materia, or whatever?"
Yuffie sucked in a deep breath, Barret's words halting her rambling, and she jumped inside the plane with hunger in her eyes.
"Materia!"
Reeve finally began to calm. I tried not to read Cloud's expression too hard when he watched the man use me as a sanctum, my belly a place for him to bury his face.
"Reeve, were you successful?" he asked, crossing his arms.
Reeve pulled free, breathing in the sea air, and slowly, he stood, dusting himself off. He needed to throw his suit in the wash.
"Yep. Got them," he laughed uneasily, as though he still didn't believe he did what he did to accomplish our goal.
"YEAH!"
Yuffie climbed out, and in her arms like four infants bundled up, four large objects wrapped in thick black cloth.
"Reeve, you brilliant bastard, you did it!"
She rushed up to him and pecked his cheek with her pale lips. Reeve's face turned dark red, stumbling away.
"Ah, th-thanks!" He fanned his face with his hand, loosing his tie with the other.
"Yuffie, be careful, or else he may melt," Barret chuckled.
Cloud smirked at the scene, pleased that our mission was a success after all. He ducked his head, rubbing the back of it with a hand.
"I'm sorry, you guys, it was my fault. I let Shinra know I was here," he admitted, his eyes cast away to the calm sea. The sun was just a little over halfway through the sky, sinking towards the horizon with still much day left.
I gave credit for Cloud to share, even if it meant putting the blame on him for almost having us killed.
Three pairs of eyes snapped at him.
"What the hell do you mean?" Barret asked, simmering like before.
Cloud sighed, shoving his hands into his pockets.
"I was being selfish, my sight set on Rufus, and wanted him to know I was here, for a fight. I should've known he wouldn't accept my challenge," he muttered.
"Cloud, what the hell, man?! We could've died, dumb ass," Barret grunted, his brown eyes hardening at the fighter.
Cloud was displeased with Barret's choice of words, narrowing his eyes up at the big man.
"I know."
"We almost lost the Materia. Rufus would've been able to use it and-"
"I know!" Cloud interrupted, not wanting to hear all that almost happened because of his reckless behavior. He clenched his teeth, fuming silently under the late sun. When I thought he was going to hiss and turn away to be alone with his thoughts, he turned his head, catching my eyes with his. I wondered how much Cloud was going to ruminate, seeing how it made him bitter when he knew how close he was to ruining this day. We almost died, and it would've been his fault. The guilt laid in his stare, as though silently apologizing to me. I reached, ready to say something to him, but Cloud turned away and marched quickly, his feathers ruffled.
He had a lot on his mind. I dreaded the moment when he wanted to bring up Rufus, bracing for it as I stayed behind with the others, and we walked back to the airship.
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