Disclaimer:
Author Note:
Ahhhh...revamp is done...finally! Well, all of you better go back and read the whole story over again. If you haven't, go do it right now... I'm not joking...
Anyhoo, I hope you guys like this chapter and the whole revamp I did... Let me know...ciao...
Reno and I arrived back in Costa del Sol two and a half hours later. Lightning was still a little tired from the journey to Junon and now she had the extra burden of another person. Once we reached the coast, I wanted to go directly to the old sailor's shack but Reno insisted that we search my house one more time.
"Come on, babe, you were panicked. Maybe you missed something. Criminals always leave evidence behind no matter how hard they try not to. Maybe Aeris forgot something."
I was grateful for how he was trying to comfort me and try to strengthen my spirit but when a mother wants to find her child she'll do anything and go through anybody to get him back. Right now all I wanted to do was find Cloud and punch him dead in the face.
Reno and I spent about half an hour scouring the house for any type of clue that might lead us to where Logan was. I was about to fall onto my bed in exasperation when I heard Reno call to me from the bathroom. With renewed vigor, I ran out of my room and charged toward the bathroom door. I saw Reno kneeling in front of the toilet, looking back at me with a sly grin on his face.
"What?" I asked, looking at the floor around him to try and find what had made him call me here.
Reno lifted a balled fist from its place on the ground and hovered it in my direction. I reached my hand out and flinched when Reno dumped a small pile of sand granules onto my palm. "It's not much, but it's more than what we had ten minutes ago. Let's go check out that shack."
Reno and I ran as fast as we could in the deep sand. By the time we reached the old shack my leg muscles were knotted and screaming at me not to take another step. I defied my aching muscles and briskly walked into the shack.
My heart fell. There was nothing inside the shack besides the very large closet in the west wall, two cots and a table with two chairs. Reno hit the doorframe. "Dammit," he whispered.
I sighed. "Well, maybe they left something in the closet. You never know," I said, walking towards the door and opening it. I flicked on the light switch and began to search the shelves of clothes and food cans that were piled in large stacks. Reno joined me and, after awhile, we both gave up and collapsed into the old wood chairs that were around the small table. "Nothing," I said, placing my forehead in the palm of my hand. "I was sure we would find something."
"Yeah, I was to," Reno said, his voice sounding disappointed. "Guess you can't get lucky twice in one day."
I sighed once more and drummed my fingers on the rotted wood of the table. "Come on, there's gotta be some – " I stopped right in the middle of my sentence when I spied a small tin trashcan in the back corner next to the door. Neither Reno nor I had seen it when we came in. I quickly got up from where I was sitting and dashed over to the small trashcan. I sighed in relief when I found that they had forgotten to take out the trash.
I grabbed it and turned it over, causing all the paper inside to come tumbling out. I grabbed each slip of paper separately and discovered that all of them were receipts from the local stores and restaurants around town, except one.
Cloud had bought three airship tickets to Gongaga.
I sat staring at the receipt, my hands beginning to shake. "Reno, I think I've found something."
"What?" He asked, walking up behind me and peering over my shoulder. He was silent for a few moments before he chuckled. "I can't believe Strife is that stupid. You'd think if he was using his head that would not be in the trash right now."
"But that's good for us," I said, folding the paper up and putting it in my pocket. "Cloud may have just thrown it in there with the rest of them. He probably doesn't even know it's missing." I got up and looked around. "Do you think they left behind anything else?"
Reno shook his head. "Unless they buried it under the floor boards. That receipt is the only thing."
"Okay, well then we should get back to town and figure out what we're gonna do."
Reno nodded and followed me out of the shack.
.xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox.
Cloud tiptoed out of the room Logan was sleeping in, closing the door quietly. It had taken three hours of unending crying for him to finally become exhausted. Cloud exhaled slowly as he walked down the hall. Taking care of the tyke really was a lot of work.
Aeris was sitting on the couch, flipping through the TV channels when he reentered the living room. He sat down next to her and stared idly at the television. "Anything interesting on?" He asked, resting his hands on the back of his head.
Aeris shook her head and tossed the controller down on the coffee table. "Logan finally fall asleep?" She asked, turning her head to look at him.
He nodded and took a deep breath before speaking. "I just can't shake the feeling that maybe we shouldn't have kidnapped him."
"Don't be ridiculous," Aeris said, getting up and grabbing the controller, turning the TV off. "You wanted to get back at Tifa; I just helped you."
Aeris threw the controller into his lap then disappeared down the hallway, leaving Cloud to sit and ponder her statement.
.xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox.
I was happy that Reno agreed with me on going to Gongaga but he insisted that we leave in the morning. At first I wanted to get out of Costa and on the road to Gongaga as soon as possible but Reno refused and was just about ready to lock me in my room. I finally gave in and when Reno and I returned to the condo, we went straight to bed. The days events had exhausted us; a good night's sleep was in order.
