~ Watch Me ~

The Girl and the Herd

The city flew by the window at rocket-like speed. The buildings and people nothing but a blur of colours and light. Rose had never been on a train before. When she was at home, Angeal would never agree to meet her in the city, their mother and her would always have to wait for his limited visits back to Banora. She knew deep down that Angeal came home as often as he could – there was a war on after all – but still, it didn't stop Rose envying her brother his freedom.

Somewhere above her, a bell rang, and woman's voice announced the station."Sector 8"

Rose took a breath. "Here we go."

The train hissed to a stop, and steadying her nerve, she and her bags vacated the carriage.

[-]

It wasn't hard to manoeuvre the streets of Sector 8, everything seemed to flow in the same direction. A vine with alleys branching off to darker alcoves, shadowed corners where Rose spied more notorious bars and clubs. It was a frenzy of life she had never experienced, and Rose found herself getting lost in the electricity of it all.

Midgar was a far cry from her quiet little farm town.

"Hey, get out of the way!"

Rose turned to see a herd of screaming girls heading right for her, and she stumbled.

"What the hell!?" She growled, as one of the larger ones came crashing painfully into her shoulder. "Watch what you're doing!"

"Oh!" The girl squeaked guiltily, breaking briefly from her crowd. The action clearly pained her, but duty won out over want. "I'm so sorry, I didn't see you. We're so excited, you see, we just got a call – they're there!"

Rose frowned. "Who are?"

The girl rolled her eyes. "How have you not heard? All three are there! They're at the Shield & Sword!"

Rose still had no idea who the girl was on about, but the mention of her brother's bar definitely peaked her interest.

"But who – "

"Barbara!"

One of the heard, older than Rose's conversationalist, had also broke away from their group. Hands on her hips, this one was glaring sharp daggers in both Barbara and Rose's direction.

"Barbara, I swear if I miss Genesis coming out of that bar, I will burn your Angeal posters! Move your ass!"

The aforementioned Barbara looked at Rose apologetically. "Sorry, better go – they're signed."

Rose made to stop her, but she was already gone, the herd whole once again as they bustled awkwardly up the street as one. Dumbfounded, Rose made off after them, snorting as she thought of Angeal having a fan club of love stuck teenagers running around after him.

Oh Brother. You are seriously never hearing the end of this.

They reached the 'Shield and Sword' at roughly the same time, the girls slowed by their number, and Rose by the weight of her luggage. She stared in wonder at the mounting people outside the bar, realising that the crowd of girls had grown by dozens, a few young aspiring boys adding to their number.

Rose shook her head in disbelief, both amused and bewildered, and she wondered how many of them were there for Angeal.

"No one's getting in, so back away from the door!" One of the bouncers yelled out suddenly, rightly looking more than a little terrified. "This is for Shinra staff only. Get back!"

The crowd reacted with boos and hisses, and Rose utilized the moment to slip 'round the growing mass of crazed fans, and into bar's side alley.

"There's got to be another way inside." She murmured, narrowing her gaze as she hastily studied the area.

She headed in deeper, hoping to spy a fire escape or forgotten back exit, but there was no such luck. What she did find was an awkwardly placed window high up on the second floor, and it was going to be a squeeze.

"There's no way in." Said a familiar voice.

Rose spun on her heels.

"Barbara?" She remembered, regarding the incredibly tall girl with mild confusion. "What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for Angeal."

"No, I mean here." Rose pressed, gesturing pointedly to the alley.

Barbara shrugged.

"I saw you sneak down here when the bouncer was yelling – I knew you were a fan. Don't you think we haven't tried getting in before?" She pressed, glancing back nervously over her shoulder, clearly worried about being spotted.

Rose nodded slowly, slightly concerned by the intensity in the young girl's voice.

"Have you tried that window?" She added lightly, carefully sliding her bags off of her shoulders.

Barbara scoffed, looking at Rose as though she was mad. "We're not acrobats. How are we supposed to get up there? With the thirty foot ladder we carry in our back pockets?"

Rose shrugged. "Good. So it might be unlocked."

She turned immediately back to the window, but Barbara grabbed her arm.

"How are you going to get up there?" She questioned, her features eager, yet Rose hadn't missed the barely concealed doubt.

She freed her arm.

"Climb the pipe." Rose said simply, though that had actually been her second option. The first, more enjoyable approach, had been discarded as soon as she'd realised she had an audience. Rose gave the pipe the once over. "Nothing to it." She added, stretching her arms above her head.

Beginning the climb, Rose briefly glanced at her bags.

"Could you keep an eye on those? I'll bring Angeal back out with me – he strikes me as the sort of guy that has time for his fans."

The smirk was difficult for Rose to conceal, but Barbara scoffed anyway.

"Of course he is, but that's assuming you get anywhere near close enough to talk to him. They're going to chuck you out."

"We'll see." Rose answered flippantly, carefully ascending further up the pipe. "I'm kind of hoping that Angeal won't want to see his only sister thrown out on her ass."

Beneath her, an audible gasp vibrated upward.

"Y-you're Rose Hewley?!" Barbara stuttered, the information clearly too much for her fangirl-ing mind to handle. "But... you...oh my gosh, why didn't you say?!"

Rose rolled her eyes, and there was a brief pause.

"Your name! It's on your bag! I should have seen!" Barbara squealed, the idea almost too exciting to bear. "I'm so sorry, Miss Hewley, of course I'll look after them!"

Rose glanced down in time to see the wide frenzied grin on the young girl's face, and matched it as best as she could, whilst dangling from a piece of thin rusty metal.

"Thanks, Barbara! I'll be back as soon as I can."

Rose reached the window with one final push of strength, relieved to find that it was indeed unlocked, and opened onto a helpfully empty corridor. She forced herself inside with a complete lack of dignity, and a little wiggling, before landing semi-gracefully with an audible plop on the wooden floor below.

She stilled herself with a quiet moan.

Time to find Angeal.

AN: Thank you for the interest so far. I'm going to do one more chapter after this, and I'll go on feedback whether to prioritise or not. Though I'm hoping you like it. The follows are a good indication.

Take care, Chocobos! x