Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Final Fantasy VII. I do own anything else that cannot be identified as belonging to FFVII, anything related to FFVII, or anything that's copyrighted (such as…I dunno, Coke). FFVII and anything related to it is copyrighted to their owners (Squaresoft, Sony), as is anything that's copyrighted already. Anything else (such as Ocs, the plot, and the lyrics to the songs, restaurants, and other things) is copyrighted to me (so no stealing). Etc., ect…
Fast update this time! Thanks to xXBrightEyesXx, Gaby, Mythrand, Kat, Any-more-cheese, and Jaded Crescent for reviewing! You guys have a super happy sokymo here.
Glad most people liked the lyrics. Ahh, typo in the last chapter! Thanks for pointing it out xXBrightEyesXx!
Chapter 4 - Dumped and Ditched
Tifa worked frantically on her new design. She had woke up two hours ago with a ton of ideas crammed into her head. Now, Tifa was putting them all down on a piece of paper. Aeris peered over Tifa's shoulder.
"Hm, nice. I like this one better than your previous one," she commented.
"Thanks," Tifa said as she finished drawing. "Yeah, I like this one better too. So, what are we doing today?" Aeris straightened.
"Not sure. I want to go swimming before the weather turns cold."
"So you want to go swimming today?" Tifa asked. Aeris nodded.
"Why not? It's a nice sunny day." She looked out the window.
"Ok. I like swimming too," Tifa agreed. "Are the others gonna come too?" Aeris picked up the phone and started dialing Cloud's number.
"Yup!" She waited for a few seconds. "Hi Cloud! Do you have anything important to do today?" Tifa giggled at Aeris's hopeful expression. "Good! Cause Tifa and I are gonna go swimming today. Wanna come?" Aeris paused as she listened to Cloud. "Oh, we'll come over to your dorm at around…um…we'll come by in ten minutes. It's 12:05 now. Ok, see you!" Aeris hung up.
"Wow Aeris, you're happy," Tifa observed. Aeris giggled.
"Hee hee, I can't help it. I love swimming. 'Kay, I'm gonna call Yuffie now." Aeris dialed Yuffie's number. Yuffie picked up the phone after two rings. "Hi Yuffie! Cloud, Tifa, and I are gonna go swimming today. Can you come? What? No! Why not?" Aeris frowned. "Oh, that sucks! Alright. Bye!"
"What's the matter? Why can't Yuffie come?" Tifa asked.
"She says that she has lots of homework, and she has detention at 2:00 pm cause she was late in art." Tifa also frowned.
"Oh, poor Yuffie." She sighed. So did Aeris.
"Well, we'd better get ready," the brunette said. She and Tifa pulled on their swimsuits. Tifa was wearing a black bikini while Aeris donned a more modest, red, two-piece swimsuit. Tifa pulled a tank top and mini-skirt over her bikini. Aeris put on a T-shirt that said "Boys are Stupid. Throw Rocks at Them." She also put on shorts and slipped her feet into high, beige, platform sandals. Tifa wore green flip-flops. They tied up their hair and gathered their bags. They collected their keys. Tifa glanced at the clock.
"Crap! It's already 12:15!" The girls hurried out the door and locked it. They ran towards the guys' dorm.
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"You're late," Cloud said, grinning at Aeris and Tifa.
"Oh, shut up," Tifa grumbled. "It's not like you're Mr. I'm-always-on-time."
"Is Yuffie coming?" Cloud asked.
"No," Aeris answered. "She said that she has homework and detention." Cloud sighed.
"Aw, poor Yuffs. Alright, lemme get my stuff." He went over to his bed and picked up a bag. Just then, Vincent walked out the door, not saying a word to anyone. Aeris and Tifa stared after him for a moment, then looked at Cloud as he locked the dorm door. They all headed out of the dorm and toward the huge outdoor university swimming pool.
"So we swim, eat, soak, swim, and soak," Aeris told the other two eagerly. "Ok?" They nodded. The trio arrived at the swimming pool. Many people were already in the gigantic pool, splashing about.
"Ugh, so many perverts," Tifa groaned. Cloud smiled.
"Don't worry. I'll protect you and Aeris. Leave the brawling to me."
"No brawls Cloud," Aeris said, raising an eyebrow. "Guys. Seriously. What's with the fighting biz?"
"Girls wouldn't understand," Cloud replied as he took off his shirt and pants.
"Exactly," Tifa said, doing the same, as did Aeris. The latter stood at the deep end, which was about thirteen feet, getting ready to dive in. Suddenly, Cloud tackled her waist and they both fell into the pool. Cloud surfaced and pulled Aeris up. She was spluttering and spitting out water. Cloud spun her waist and she turned 360 degrees twice in the water, uncontrollably. Tifa stifled her laughter with difficulty.
"CLOUD!" Aeris yelled after she managed to stop.
"Yeah?" Cloud asked her flirtatiously.
"You…you…you…!"
"I what, sexy doll?"
"I'M NOT A SEXY DOLL YOU DUMB BLONDE!"
"Ouch, that hurts," Cloud said, wincing. Tifa jumped in next to Aeris. She smiled at Cloud.
"Serves you right," she told him. Cloud groaned.
"Aww, not you too, Tifa! You're my girlfriend!"
"And Aeris is my best friend. She's more important."
"Hey hey, girls against guys? Not fair," the blonde muttered.
"Let's play tag," Aeris decided suddenly. "Rock, paper, scissors." Tifa chose rock, Cloud chose rock, and Aeris chose paper. Then Tifa chose scissors and Cloud kept at rock.
"Crap!" Tifa yelled. Cloud and Aeris laughed.
"You're it, Tifa," Cloud drawled. "By the way, we get a ten second head start." Tifa cursed as Aeris and Cloud sped away from her. They separated. Then, Tifa started swimming madly after them. "I'LL GET YOU!" she yelled at Cloud. A look of alarm flashed across his face and he started swimming toward Aeris.
"Ahh! Not towards me!" she cried. Tifa swam as fast as she could, but Cloud was the better and faster swimmer. Aeris suddenly realized that Cloud was going to collide into her. "OH MY GOD, CLOUD, WATCH-!" Cloud swam headfirst into Aeris, at full speed, while she tried to get away. They toppled head over feet through the water. Cloud's hand groped wildly for anything to hold onto, and he found Aeris's wrist. Aeris was dragged under as Cloud pulled himself up. He took a gulp of air.
"Whoa! What-OW!" Aeris was kicking Cloud's leg furiously, trying to get him to let go of her. He did.
"Ugh! What were you trying to do, drown me!" Aeris demanded as she spat out mouthfuls of water. Cloud patted her back.
"I'm sorry Aeris. Are you alright?" he asked worriedly.
"Um…yeah," Aeris replied. Why was Cloud looking at her like that?
"You should be more careful Cloud," Tifa said, swimming up next to them. She giggled as Cloud recoiled from her. "Don't worry," she told him. "I'm not gonna tag you." Cloud relaxed.
"Good," he said fervently. "Let's not play tag; it's too intense."
"Alright," Aeris agreed. "I wouldn't want you to accidentally drown me." Cloud flushed and laughed nervously. Tifa smiled.
"Come on, let's have a race."
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Vincent walked into Palmer's Art Supplies. He looked at his list. He needed to buy brushes, paint, special pencils, special erasers, special colored pencils, pastels, charcoal, and special pens. Lots of stuff. Vincent walked into the paints section and saw a familiar figure looking at the acrylic paints.
"Lucrecia?" The figure looked up. Her eyes widened.
"Vincent! Hi!" Vincent walked over to Lucrecia.
"Didn't fancy meeting you here," he said.
"Oh, well, I'm buying art supplies," the girl said.
"Same here," Vincent replied, nodding. "Are we going to start planning our project next week?"
"Yeah," Lucrecia answered. They picked out their art supplies and left the store at 12:52 pm.
"I'm hungry," Vincent said randomly. Lucrecia giggled.
"Guys are always hungry," she observed.
"Hey! Is that supposed to be a compliment or insult?"
"Um…comment," Lucrecia answered. Vincent smiled.
"Alright then. Um…want to come to lunch with me?" Lucrecia blinked, looking rather surprised.
"Oh…um…sure," she replied. Vincent looked pleased.
"Did you drive here?" Lucrecia shook her head.
"No, I walked." Vincent pulled her toward his car, which was a very cool looking, sleek, black, sports car-like vehicle.
"You like Le Palais Folkorique?" he asked Lucrecia. She nodded. They arrived at the restaurant quickly, for it wasn't far from the university and Palmer's Art Supplies. Le Palais Folklorique was a nice café that was never too crowded, yet was quite popular among the university students.
"What would you like to order, mister?" a young woman asked Vincent.
"Um…" Vincent looked at the menu. "I would like the Côte Levées et des frites with the Créme Glacée Vanille for dessert, please."
"Alright sir. What drink would you like?"
"A coke."
"Ok. What would you like to order, miss?" the waitress asked Lucrecia.
"Hm…I would like to have the La Poutine with the Salade Vert. Um…orange juice for a drink and the Créme Glacée Mangue for dessert, please."
"Ok. Thank you." The waitress left. Vincent and Lucrecia chatted about school as they waited for their orders. Then, their meals arrived.
"Whoa, that's a lot of fries!" Lucrecia exclaimed, staring at her poutine. Vincent dug into his spareribs and fries with relish.
"Well, I'll help you with it if you can't finish it," he said after swallowing his food. Lucrecia stared at him.
"Er…ok…" She blinked. "Scary appetite."
"Yeah," Vincent mumbled as he ate. "Don't talk; I'm eating."
"Ooook then." Lucrecia started eating.
"Hey," said Vincent, looking up. "Where are you going after lunch?"
"The library," Lucrecia replied. "To check out some books. You?"
"I'll come with you," Vincent. "I need something to read."
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Elena looked at the clock. It was 7:00 pm. She opened the closet and picked through her clothes. Elena finally chose a black, sparkly tank top that said, "Paws Off Girls. He's Mine." in pink lettering. She put on a white mini skirt and tall, black, glossy boots. She also wore large, silver hoop earrings. Elena dashed into the bathroom to put on makeup. Mascara, eyeliner, lipstick, blush, eye shadow, the works. Elena had just finished her makeup and was pulling on her coat when someone knocked on the door. Elena opened it. Vincent was standing there, smiling at her.
"Hello Elena," he said. Elena grinned.
"Hi Vincent!" She grabbed her purse and went out the door, locking it. Then, she and Vincent walked out of the building, towards the movie theater, the Meteor Movie Stadium. The MMS was filled with people, mainly couples. Elena waited as Vincent bought tickets for He Murdered My Brother 2. Vincent and Elena went into the building. They presented their tickets and were let into the movie room. Most of the seats were already filled up, but the pair found two good seats and sat down, with six minutes left to go for the movie. Then, the movie started.
Vincent watched the screen, though only half of his mind was on the actual movie. He was aware of Elena, who was latched onto his arm, occasionally gasping. Vincent was troubled. Elena was his girlfriend. She was pretty, of course. Nice too. But…well, Vincent didn't feel the same as he did before for her. Before, he would miss her, and would want to spend time with her. Now, however…Vincent merely felt for her as a friend would feel. He didn't have a…crush on her anymore. No. Ever since Vincent met Lucrecia, he started feeling different. Lucrecia aroused feelings inside Vincent that Elena hadn't. Elena was pretty, but Lucrecia was prettier. Elena was nice, but Lucrecia was nicer. Vincent had seen other guys look at Lucrecia strangely…the way Vincent looked at her. Three guys had even asked her out, but she had reclined, from what Vincent saw. Lucrecia filled Vincent's mind. He thought of her constantly, even occasionally dreaming about her at night. Vincent still liked Elena as a friend, but nothing more. He would take his chance with Lucrecia, no matter what, for Vincent was happiest when he was around her.
Vincent and Elena walked out of the MMS. Elena talked about the movie as they drove back to the university.
"That was even better than the first one! It was so scary; I think I might have nightmares for the next couple of days." She laughed. "I love that movie. It's probably the best horror movie I've ever seen. What about you, Vincent?"
"Oh, it was good," Vincent agreed absentmindedly. He parked the car and they got out, walking out of the parking lot into the cold, night air, in front of the dorms. Elena hugged Vincent.
"Thanks for taking me out today," she said. Vincent broke away.
"Elena," he said quietly. "I…have to talk to you."
"Well, we're talking right now," Elena said, half jokingly, but looking curious. Vincent's expression turned somber.
"I'm…sorry Elena," he said softly, "but I…don't feel the same way towards you as you do towards me anymore."
"…w-what?" Elena asked shakily, blinking. Vincent looked at her.
"I don't like you like that anymore," he said. Elena was shocked.
"Y-you mean…you're d-dumping me!"
"No…just that I don't think our relationship will work out anymore. I'm sorry…Elena. I really am."
"B-but…why!" Elena cried sadly. Vincent shook his head and looked away. He started walking.
"Please don't be sad," he said quietly.
"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!" someone yelled suddenly. Reno came bursting out of the main dormitory building and sprinted toward Vincent. He confronted him with a furious expression on his face.
"Reno…?" Vincent looked bewilderedly at his friend.
"You bastard," Reno spat. "How dare you dump Elena like that!"
"Reno, what are you doing!" Elena cried. "Why are you here?"
"Elena…" Reno looked at her, his expression softening. Then, he glared back at Vincent. "You &$/er! How dare you treat Elena like that! Don't you know how much she likes you! How can you leave her like that!" Vincent stared at Reno.
"I…" Reno spoke before Vincent could say any more.
"You know what? We're not friends anymore. Don't talk to us like you do to your friends, don't hang out with us, and you're not part of the Turks anymore. Our friendship is over!" Elena gasped.
"Reno, don't-!"
"Stop Elena!" Reno turned toward Elena, looking anguished. "I can't watch Vincent treat you like that." Elena blinked at Reno through tears.
"Why?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. Reno laughed bitterly.
"Why? Why! Cause I love you, idiot! Since you liked Vincent so much, I never interfered with you guys. But, to watch him dump the person I love like his…how can I?" Elena stared, speechless, at Reno. The latter turned back toward Vincent. "Get going. I never want to know you again." Vincent didn't respond to Reno, but he looked at Elena. The girl's eyes were swimming with tears, and she looked at him wretchedly, disbelievingly.
"…Vincent…" she whispered, pleadingly. Vincent turned away.
"I'm sorry Elena." He walked away, into the building, leaving his former friends behind.
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Vincent woke up the next morning at 9:54 am. He lay in bed, thinking about the events that had taken place last night. He didn't feel very sad, for it was Reno who wanted him to leave. Without a real, good reason. A real friend wouldn't do that. Even if Reno did love Elena, he shouldn't have been so negatively affected by Vincent and Elena's breakup. It was Reno's problem. As for Elena…Vincent hoped that she wouldn't be too upset over the next few days.
"Hey, do you know what happened last night?" Cloud asked Vincent suddenly. He was pulling on his shirt. "I heard shouting." Vincent looked up at Cloud. His expression was unfathomable. "Well?" Cloud persisted.
"…" Vincent got up. He went to the closet, closed the door, and started dressing. Then, he went to the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face. Cloud, who had given up on Vincent replying, was going out the door when Vincent came out. The blonde frowned at Vincent for a moment, then left.
Vincent picked up the phone and dialed a number. The phone rang three times before someone picked it up.
"Hello?" the person said.
"Hello Lucrecia," Vincent said. The other person paused.
"Vincent?" Lucrecia asked, recognizing the caller's deep, monotone voice.
"Yes," Vincent answered. "I didn't wake you up, did I?"
"Oh, no, I woke up ten minutes ago," Lucrecia replied. "So, um…why'd you call? I thought that we were starting our project tomorrow."
"We are," Vincent said. "I wanted to ask you…do you have anything planned for today?" Lucrecia sounded curious as she answered.
"Nope. I have nothing to do for the whole day and I've finished all my homework. Why?"
"Because…" Vincent paused. "Do you want to go out today?"
"Huh?" Lucrecia sounded very surprised. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, as in, a date. For today."
"A-a date…? Oh. Well…I…um…sure."
"Great," Vincent said. "Meet me at the main dorm building right away?"
"Ok," Lucrecia replied. "So…erm…see you."
"Bye." Vincent hung up, gathered up his coat, and left the room, locking the door.
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Cloud entered the cafeteria and spotted his friends talking earnestly. He walked over to them.
"Hi guys," Cloud said. Aeris, Tifa, and Yuffie looked up at him. They stopped talking.
"Hi Cloud," they all said. Cloud sat down and winked at Aeris.
"Hey babe," he said, smiling.
"Hi sexy," Aeris replied, smiling sweetly and winking back. She, Tifa, and Yuffie burst out laughing at Cloud's shocked face.
"What the-!" Cloud gaped at Aeris. "When did you start flirting back at me?" Aeris stifled her giggles with difficulty.
"I haven't," she replied. "I just did that to see your reaction."
"Oh," Cloud said. "Crap."
"Don't be too disappointed Cloud," Tifa told him, smiling.
"Yeah," Yuffie added. "We'll blackmail Aeris until she flirts with you." This time, Cloud, Yuffie, and Tifa laughed.
"Hey!" Aeris said indignantly. "Not fair!"
"Yeah, yeah," Cloud said, smirking. "Life's not fair, chick. OW!" Aeris kicked Cloud under the table.
"Serves you right," she said, smirking back at him.
"Hey Cloud," Tifa said suddenly. "Did Vincent seem…weird when he woke up?" Cloud blinked.
"Um…come to think of it, yeah, he did. I heard shouting outside last night, and when I asked Vincent if he knew what it was about, he didn't reply." Aeris, Yuffie, and Tifa exchanged secretive glances. "What?" Cloud asked.
"Well," Yuffie said slowly, "Elena came back yesterday at around 10:30 pm last night, crying."
"What!" Cloud exclaimed. "Why?"
"Poor girl," Tifa sighed. "Vincent had broken up with her."
"Yeah," Yuffie said. "She was a wreck yesterday. I could hardly understand her when she told me about it."
"She told you about it?" Cloud looked surprised.
"Yup," Yuffie said. "I asked her."
"And it seems like Reno and Vincent aren't friends anymore," Aeris said.
"Elena told me that Reno was furious with Vincent for breaking up with her. When Elena asked Reno why, Reno told her that it was cause he loved her," Yuffie said. "So, Reno's mad at Vincent for making Elena sad."
"That's uncalled for," Cloud commented, frowning. "I wonder why Vincent broke up with Elena?" The girls exchanged significant looks again.
"You aren't in our Sociology, so you won't know this, but we think we know why Vincent broke up with Elena," Tifa said.
"Yeah," Aeris said. "You know a girl called Lucrecia Crescent?" Cloud shook his head.
"Oh, well, she's in our Sociology," Yuffie told him. "Vincent sits behind her, and he's been giving her weird looks lately. He talks to her a lot, and they're working together for the project."
"So we think that Vincent likes her," Tifa concluded.
"So…Vincent dumped Elena for this Lucrecia?" Cloud asked.
"Yep." Aeris nodded. "He seems really happy when he's with Lucrecia."
"Wow." Cloud blinked. "Then…Vincent's not a Turk anymore?"
"Probably not," Yuffie said. "Come on. I'm hungry. Let's get food."
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Vincent watched Lucrecia walk down the stairs, toward him. He smiled at her. She smiled back tentatively.
"Hello Lucrecia," Vincent greeted.
"Hi Vincent," Lucrecia returned. Vincent noticed Lucrecia's uncomfortable expression.
"Is there anything wrong, Lucrecia?"
"No!" Lucrecia said, starting slightly. "Well…" She sighed at Vincent's skeptical look. "Don't you…have a girlfriend?" Vincent blinked at Lucrecia. He frowned slightly.
"Yes, I did. But I broke up with her yesterday."
"Yesterday!" Lucrecia stared at Vincent. "Is that how you treat your girlfriends? You dump them when you're done with them and get another one right away!"
"…no."
"Then why'd you break up with her?" Lucrecia demanded.
"Because I wanted to be with you," Vincent replied tersely. "Isn't it obvious?"
"…oh." Lucrecia blinked. "Oh. I'm sorry Vincent."
"That's all right," Vincent said, shrugging. "I suppose that I wasn't obvious enough." Lucrecia smiled.
"Well, maybe. Was I obvious?" Vincent paused.
"No," he answered.
"Then why'd you ask me out? How did you know if I liked you?"
"I decided to take my chances." Vincent grasped Lucrecia's hand and led her out the door. "Let's go get breakfast."
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Cloud, Aeris, Tifa, and Yuffie happily ate their breakfast. Cloud munched on buttered toast and fluffy scrambled eggs.
"Mmm, this is good," he mumbled through his food. "Hey Aeris, can I have a piece of pancake? How 'bout the one you're holding?" Aeris stared at the partly-bitten piece of pancake. on her fork.
"I've tasted it Cloud," she told him.
"I don't care," Cloud said, gulping. He reached over and grabbed Aeris's fork, sticking it into his mouth.
"Hey!" Aeris protested. "That's my fork!" Cloud handed it back to her. She looked at it. "Ew…"
"Come on, just wipe it then," Cloud said as he ate more eggs. Aeris took the fork gingerly and wiped it furiously on a napkin. She continued eating. Tifa ate her hash browns.
"These are really good too," she said.
"Mmcramyaveun?" Cloud asked. Tifa looked at him.
"What?" she asked as she ate the last hash brown. Cloud sighed.
"I asked, can I have one," he repeated, "but you've already eaten them all." Tifa blinked.
"Oh. Well. No can do, Cloud." She smiled cheerfully. Yuffie gulped down her porridge.
"This is also delicious," she commented. Cloud made a face.
"I can't believe that you're eating porridge in the morning."
"Shows what you know," Yuffie said. "Wutainese porridge is really good. Not like the porridge they have here. I'm glad that there's a Wutainese store here." Aeris looked up.
"They, it's Vincent and Lucrecia!" she said in a hushed voice. The other there looked up.
"That's Lucrecia? I've seen her before," Cloud said. Just then, Vincent said something, and Lucrecia burst out laughing. They went over to a store to buy breakfast.
"Yup. They're going out all right," Yuffie observed.
"That means that Vincent's not friends with the Turks anymore," Cloud said. "That's good. It'll make him more tolerable to live with." Tifa smiled slightly.
"He's not such a bad guy, really. Maybe we could be friends." Cloud choked on the last piece of food.
"Friends!" he spluttered. Aeris nodded.
"Yeah, maybe we can. Tifa's right."
"But…but…but…!"
"To think of it, the actual bully is Reno. I don't now about Rude, but he seems okay. Elena's a pretty nice person once you get to know her, and Vincent doesn't seem bad," Yuffie stated. Cloud scowled.
"I won't become friends with a jock," he said stoutly. Aeris sighed, shaking her head.
"You know what, Cloud? Sometimes you're so stubborn, you look like a no-nonsense mother chocobo."
"…hey!"
Ok, ok, before anybody who knows who to write French accuses me of anything, I need to say this: I know that saying (for example) "the La Poutine" doesn't make sense because it literally translates to "the the poutine", but Vincent and Lucrecia don't know that, do they? Anyway, "La Poutine" is the meal's name, so it wouldn't really make sense in English to say "I would like La Poutine". So, this chapter wasn't very eventful, but there was slight draaaaaaaaamaaaaaaa. Not a lot…but still. Everyone loves some good drama (as long as they're not in it). Next chapter: Chapter 5 - Welcome to the World. Please REVIEW! Thanks!