Special thanks to Vermillion Dragoness and InferiorBeing! I loved the reviews- now if we could just get everyone to write as much... sigh Fun fun! Hopefully I'll keep everyone in character (or at least not have too much OOC- I've only played up to just past Kalm and seen Advent Children so I'm not the best authority on them...)
I hope we'll all like this chapter- I actually was surprised by this part myself when I wrote it, because originally... well, I'll tell you at the end. No spoiling the surprise.
The Dance- Part 3 of 11
Sephiroth's POV
Sephiroth was confused as he saw Clementine run, nearly running into several people though she didn't seem to see them.
'Why...?' Sephiroth wondered. 'She was as much into the kiss as I was...' At least, he had thought she was. She had opened her mouth to him, encouraged his tongue- even initiated another kiss after the necesity of breathing broke the first one.
Perhaps he'd been reading it wrong?
Maybe what he'd thought was encouragement was her trying to push him away, what he'd thought was another kiss was her trying to... headbutt him, maybe?
'No... why would she say 'I'm sorry.'?' he thought. It made no sense, none at all. Their kiss had been mutual, he was sure.
'Why then, did she run?'
Somewhere in the dance, he realized, he had come to care for Clementine as well. She was as close to Cloud as he was likely to find, and he couldn't just let her go.
'It may not be fair to her, to always see someone else when I look at her, to imagine kissing someone else whenever I kiss her, even to imagine someone else's face and voice when we make love. But... it's as close to happiness and perfection as I can get. I can't let her get away.'
Knowing that, by now, Clementine was likely long gone, Sephiroth decided to try a different tactic. No longer interested in the dance- though thankful that few had seen Clementine's rejection of him- he left, driving back to his condo. He no longer lived with his parents, but came from a wealthy family and hadn't needed to depend on their cash.
Once there, he went to the kitchen and grabbed the cordless phone and the school phonebook. He flipped it open, looking for the school newspaper editor's name... Aeris Gainsborough, if he wasn't mistaken. One of his friends- Zack- had gone on and on about her and that tidbit of information had lodged in Sephiroth's brain.
He was now very grateful for the information.
He found the name and dialed the number, knowing that- as it was Friday- the household was likely still awake.
Three rings, and then a tired-sounding woman picked up.
"Hello?"
"Mrs. Gainsborough? Is Aeris there?" he asked, mind thinking up the best way to get Aeris to help him out.
"Yeah- hang on." Mrs. Gainsborough replied, then a rustle of cloth indicated that she had moved the phone from her mouth.
"Aeris!" he heard her yell in the background.
"Yes?" Aeris' voice was quiet, barely audible in the background.
"Telephone!" Mrs. Gainsborough must have moved back to the phone, because Sephiroth heard her very clearly when she next spoke.
"She'll be right-" A click indicated that someone else had picked up.
"Hello?" It was Aeris' voice, and another click sounded, indicating that her mother had hung up.
"Aeris?" Sephiroth asked anyway, just to be certain.
"Sephiroth?" she said, surprised- she must have recognized his voice. "What do you want?"
"I need a favor. You are the editor of the Midgar High Echo, right?" he asked, referring to the school newspaper.
"Yes- why?" She seemed confused, though Sephiroth really couldn't blame her.
"I would like to use the front page..." Sephiroth told her his plan, giving her the basics and nothing more than she needed.
"I'll help. It's a more exciting story than the mystery meat in the cafeteria, anyway." Aeris said, a laughing note in her voice. "Meet me after school on Monday to help with the layout. I'll have Zack come too so he can draw a picture of her from your description."
"Thank you." Sephiroth said, truly grateful.
"Not a problem. I'll see you on Monday." Aeris replied, hanging up. Sephiroth smiled as he pressed 'end' on the cordless phone.
'I'll find her again.' he reassured himself, confident.
Cloud's POV
Cloud awoke the next morning late, glad it was Saturday. He knew that his eyes had to be all puffy and red from crying himself to sleep, and the last thing he wanted to do was show up looking like an idiot.
He rolled out of bed, intent on getting breakfast, and almost slid on his dress from the previous night.
Catching himself in time, he glared at the material, liek it had caused all of his problems.
'Well, in a way, it did.' he thought, knowing that the whole situation came about because he had been dressed like a girl. He wasn't quite able to ignore the fact that it wasn't the dresses fault, but rather Aeris, Yuffie, and Tifa's fault for picking it. Of course, it was his fault for betting in the first place when he knew it was hopeless.
Shaking his head, he continued on to the small kitchenette, passing through the small living room area. His apartment was tiny, but it was all he could afford. It was pretty decent for what he paid for it, too. The kitchenette was just off to the side of the door, no wall separating the hall and the kitchenette. The kitchenette consisted of a small stove, a microwave, a sink, and a tiny refrigerator as well as a few small cabinents. Of course, if you continued straight for about five feet instead of turning in the hall you came to the tiny living room- big enough for a TV, couch, and small coffee table, but not much else. The living room lead to hid bedroom- big enough for a bed and a tiny dresser, the closet being part of the wall, but nothing else. A small bathroom was attached on the other side of the living room, a tiny space just big enough for a shower stall, sink, and toilet. A cabinent hung over the sink, holding his toiletries and over-the-counter medication in case he got sick.
A large window dominated the final wall of the living room- it was one of the reasons he had picked this apartment. Cloud loved the sun, and would often take naps on the beat-up couch in the middle of the day.
Cloud checked the refrigerator for anything edible. He was in luck- he had apparently bought eggs recently. Smiling wryly, he grabbed the eggs and the milk carton, downing the last of the milk and tossing it out before getting started on his breakfast.
He bent over and grabbed an old frying pan from a cabinent, putting it on the stove and turning the old machine on. It was still in good condition, so it fired up pretty quickly. Going back to the cabinent, Cloud pulled out a plate and a fork, then opened one of the other cabinents for some bread.
He found some old white bread, not too stale. He grabbed two pieces out and put them on the plate. He decided that the frying pan was probably warm enough now and quickly cracked two eggs over it, careful not to break the yolks. He had had plenty of practice with this- making sunny-side up eggs had been one of the few things his mother had taught him to cook before she had died in the fire that took Cloud's home. He had been shipped off to live with his dead father's parents, but they had cared less about him than about themselves and had ignored him. He had learned how to cook while under their 'care', out of necesity more than anything else, but sunny-side up eggs were still special because he could almost feel his mother's love when he ate them.
It was a silly notion and he had no clue why he still pretended, but he really needed some comfort at the moment.
In minutes, his eggs were cooked just right and he expertly flipped them onto his plate. He shoved the frying pan into the sink, ignoring the hiss as the water droplets in the sink evaporated on contact with the hot pan.
He grabbed his fork and plate, going to the living room and sitting on the couch. He turned on the TV and flipped channels, trying not to reflect on the events of last night.
A part of him was glad to have gotten away, but a stronger and much larger part had wanted to stay, damn the world and anyone who condemned him for wanting a little bit of happiness.
'Even if the person who condemns you for it is Sephiroth?' an annoying voice in the back of his mind questioned.
Cloud sighed.
No, he wouldn't risk Sephiroth's absolute hatred of him- currently, he was certain that Sephiroth merely disliked him and would fight with him because Cloud wasn't completely hated by the silver-haired man. However, should Sephiroth start hating him, it would be all too easy to simply ignore Cloud and never again speak. Cloud couldn't risk never talking to Sephiroth again, even when all they did was fight. It was enough.
It would have to be.
The phone rang, startling him out of his train of thought. He groaned and got up from the couch, grabbing the phone on the fourth ring.
"Hello?" he asked, not too happy at being interrupted when thinking deep thoughts.
"Where were you? Yuffie and I looked for you all over last night!" Tifa demanded over the phone. Cloud winced.
"I was at the dance- I was the statue in the corner." he told her, deciding not to mention the 'I-danced-with-Sephiroth' bit. That was his memory, his to cherish and keep in crystal clarity.
"Do you have proof you went?" Tifa asked.
"Yeah- I have my ticket stub. And no, I didn't rip in it half myself. I left about halfway through the dance." Cloud told her.
"I believe you- but bring the ticket stub on Monday to convince the other two."
"Fine. I will- I'll see you then, Tifa." Cloud said. He heard her say 'bye' before they both hung up.
Cloud returned to his meal, eating slowly as he watched an old rerun of some show or another. He didn't really have anywhere to be, and was perfectly content to stay hidden in his apartment until Monday.
Sephiroth's POV
The weekend passed far too quickly for Cloud, but far too slowly for a silver-haired high school student.
Sephiroth had worked carefully on his project for the school newspaper, determined to have his article finished so they could quickly set up the layout and get it out first thing Tuesday morning. He had agonized over the wording and the title, eventually deciding that it was as perfect as he could get it.
The classes passed rather slowly, boring him half to death. The only high point was the classes that Cloud was in. Sephiroth hoped that the blonde would look at him, perhaps give him a reason to say something so that the blonde would respond, blue eyes flashing in anger.
Oddly enough, Cloud said nothing to him all day. As far as Sephiroth could tell, Cloud didn't even look at him.
'Strange- he'd usually have said something by now. Shouldn't he have? What's wrong?' Sephiroth was concerned- had something awful happened to Cloud over the weekend?- but couldn't show it. It would raise odd questions if he 'suddenly' started asking questions about how Cloud was- odd questions much too close to the truth, and Sephiroth couldn't afford that. He was forced to simply watch in silence, worried, but he managed to cheer himself up slightly with the promised meeting later today with Aeris and Zack to create the page for the Echo. He would have a female version of Cloud not long after the article was printed, he was sure. Clementine couldn't hide for long in a school like Midgar High- there was so few blondes with blue eyes here. He would find her, he was sure of that.
Some Time Later
After school, Sephiroth waited impatiently in the Echo's meeting room. Aeris and Zack arrived a few minutes later, carrying a laptop, portable printer, and materials to create the layout.
"Here's the article." Sephiroth said, handing three sheets of typed paper to Aeris. "Thanks again."
"Not a problem." Aeris said. "Just give your description to Zack so we can get started. Zack's a wonderful artist- but you already know, right? Zack told me that you two are friends." She smiled warmly while Sephiroth just nodded.
"Okay, Seph. Time to get to work." Zack said, grinning as he sat on a chair, drawing pad held before him. Sephiroth pulled up another chair as Aeris sat at the small desk in the corner, putting the laptop down and re-typing up the article so they could mess around with it later.
"Aeris already told me what we're up to- so, what did she look like?" Zack asked, serious tone not covering the mirth in his eyes. "All I need is a good description of the face..."
"She had shoulder-length blonde hair, maybe a slightly longer- slightly wavy. High cheekbones, small chin, but not pointed. Rounded, soft." Sephiroth began, recalling as many details as he could. "Blue eyes, slightly almond-shaped, and thin eyebrows. Long eyelashes. Her skin was pale- no marks of any kind. Her nose wasn't large or very small- I can't really remember how small. She has full lips." Sephiroth frowned, wondering what else to put in his description.
Neither of them noticed Aeris freezing in shock behind them as Sephiroth described Clementine.
'No way... it can't be...' Aeris thought, standing up slowly. She walked behind Zack as the dark-haired man's pencil whizzed on the paper, quickly filling the details of the person's face.
As Zack added in the finishing touches, Aeris swallowed hard.
'It's Cloud. No doubt about it. There aren't many people who look like that- well, who looked like that on Friday.' Aeris swallowed again.
'Do I tell them? Sephiroth has a right to know... but Cloud has even more of a right to tell him.' Aeris smiled softly. Sephiroth hadn't given details, but she could figure out that something had happened between the two.
'This is Cloud's chance to be happy.' Aeris thought, staring at the drawing. She had known for a while that Cloud's apparent 'hate' of their silver-haired classmate was a lie. At a party that had gotten out of hand, Aeris had found Cloud slightly tipsy and had driven him home. He had been so out of it he had rambled on and on about how perfect Sephiroth was, and how he would never be able to be with him because Cloud wasn't good enough. Aeris had been shocked at first, but had said nothing to Cloud or any of the others about it. Cloud had forgotten he had said anything when she next talked to him, thankfully. As accidental as it had been, Aeris was glad to be let in on Cloud's greatest secret and had helped him keep it quiet.
'I'll ask him what he plans on doing, but only help if he asks. I won't push.' Aeris decided, blinking as Zack suddenly waved a hand in front of her face.
"Hey, flower-girl! You in there?" he asked, smiling. Aeris just nodded, a grin on her face.
"Yes- I was just admiring your drawing." she said, taking the drawing pad from Zack. "I think it looks wonderful- exactly like a real person." Aeris said, walking over to a small table in the center of the room. "Now, for the layout..."
A/N: Though I'm sure we all figured this out, Aeris did not go to the dance. I didn't reall feel like making up a reason- pick one. Anyways, for the sake of the plot and advancing it, she was not at the dance but picked out Cloud's costume anyway.
Okay, so quite a bit of that was pointless... sorry if this moved way slow, but it picks up speed next chapter, I swear!
Originally, I was going to have Cloud all by himself when dealing with Sephiroth- I actually included Aeris by accident. Hopefully this seemed all right- and again, next week we're picking up speed!
I know the whole Cloud and 'sunny-side-up-eggs-are-special' thing seemed kinda dumb- but I love sunny-side up eggs and they're basically my breakfast every morning before I go to school. I felt like including it- as well as a detailed description of the apartment, so we know where's where and basically his living area. Again, probably pointless, but I'll see you again in about a week...