Chapter 59: Thunder and Lightning
August 17th in Costa del Sol proved to be one of the coolest days since they had arrived. Instead of being in the high nineties to low one hundreds, it was a rather pleasant eighty degrees. The cool breeze off the ocean provided added relief for those who roamed the shops, beaches and cafes of the beach town.
There were only two days until Cloud's birthday and the rest of their friends would be trickling in over the next twenty-four hours. In preparation for the party, she and Tifa had left their men to take care of the last minute planning for the party.
Surprisingly, the restaurant that the fighter had chosen happened to be the same Wutainese restaurant that she and Vincent had visited on their first day in Costa, Aoi Kaze. She sat at Tifa's side, listening to her talk to Mr. Kaku about what she wanted for the evening. It had already been arranged that they would occupy the establishment for the evening and it would be closed to the public, now it was a matter of setting the menu of food that would be available for the evening.
After dinner, dessert and the gift exchange, they would go down to the beach for a bonfire, maybe a night swim and fireworks. Yuffie made sure to suggest getting chocolate, graham crackers and marshmallows for smores. She was looking forward to showing Marlene the benefits of molten fluffs of sugar, chocolate and crackers. She wasn't sure if Yoshi had experienced the bonfire staple, but he would!
The sound of conversation began to fade when her mind began to drift to the two absent men. While Cloud knew that they were throwing him a party, Tifa didn't want him to know all of the details so he and Vincent had gone out earlier after a call from Reeve requesting them to check out the area at the entrance to the North Corel Trail. Reports of increased beast activity needed assessment so he could send out the appropriate number of troops to the area. With the prospect of possible battle, the pair readily accepted. Yuffie found herself a bit jealous. Not only did they get to venture out, but they did so on motorcycles!
It just wasn't fair...
-Ring Ring-
Yuffie was pulled from her musing as Tifa pulled her phone from her pocket and listened to the one-sided conversation. "Hello? Oh hey...yeah...all right...'kay...you guys be careful. Bye."
Tifa looked to Yuffie, "That was Cloud. They're on their way back and will call when they reach the town."
Yuffie sighed playfully. "I wish I could have one with them to kick some beastie butt!"
Tifa smiled, letting out a little chuckle. "I would have thought that after the other day, you would have had enough fighting when you knocked out that girl the other day." They both noticed the restaurant owner's eyes widen at her statement.
"Hey she slapped me first so I'm justified in knocking her on her ass!" The ninja griped before smiling. "Plus, she wanted my Vinnie. Besides, there was no challenge in that! A simple left hook and she was out for the count."
Tifa grinned and shook her head, trying not to laugh at the proud ninja and focus on the final details of their meeting. Soon she reached into her pocket and removed her payment card, handing it to the owner to charge for the party. He removed a few minutes later with the contract agreement and the payment slip which Tifa reviewed quickly before signing.
"It's been a pleasure doing business with you ladies and thank you for your patronage." He bowed at the waist before leading the women to the door. After goodbyes were exchanged, the pair stepped out into the bright sunshine once more.
Yuffie stretched, cracking her back as she looked over at the brunette. "Hey Teef, where are we gonna have the bonfire?"
"Well, Reeve has a place here as well. He'll be staying there with the Reno, Elena and Rude while here. His beach house is between here and the bungalows and since it's private property, it'll cut down on the number of uninvited guests."
"That's a good idea." The ninja said, nodding in approval as they walked.
Not knowing when the guys would be back, Yuffie agreed to do a little browsing with Tifa at some of the shops that they'd managed to miss while shopping the other day. While in one of the newer weapon's shops as the employee talked to Tifa about the throwing knives she was examining, a chocobo's wark sounded from her pocket, followed by the chocobo waltz (which sounded much better than it did on her old phs, in her opinion), the ninja fished the device from her pocket and answered.
"Hello?"
"Hello Yuffie."
A smile immediately traced her lips. "Hiya Vince, what's up?"
"I just wanted to let you know that we were in the area. I had to return to the bungalow to change but we should be joining you shortly."
"Things get a little messy?"
"Yes, though not as badly as what we experienced with the grand horns."
Yuffie's nose scrunched up at the memory of fishing guts out of their clothing and hair. "Well, that's always a plus. Have you guys had anything to eat yet?"
"No."
"There's a burger shop on A Street. How 'bout you guys meet us there?"
"That's acceptable. We will be there shortly."
"Alrighty! Love ya Vinnie, see you soon."
"And I you."
With that, the ninja closed her phone to find Tifa grinning at her. Her face flushed red as Tifa laughed and shook her head. "There's no need to get embarrassed Yu, it's just really sweet."
The ninja nodded with a smile of her own. "It is, isn't it?" The ninja said before moving to Tifa's side and looked to the knives she had been examining. She picked it up and tested its weight in her hand. "It has a good center of gravity." She looked to the employee and tossed her head in the direction of a target. "May I?"
"Sure."
Yuffie turned to the target on the wall and making sure the other patrons were clear, she launched the knife at the target mounted to the wall. The blade became buried in the target a little low and to the right of the bullseye. With the second blade, she adjusted and got a bit closer to the center. "They're not bad. You gonna get them?" She asked Tifa as the employee moved to free the blades.
"I think I will." Yuffie nodded in approval and stepped to the side as the transaction was made.
With case in hand, the couple headed to the burger joint and found a quiet spot, ordering drinks while they waited for Cloud and Vincent to join them.
Ten minutes later the swordsman and gunman entered the establishment, gaining a few glances from many of the females inside. The sat at the table with the two women and Yuffie, seeing the gazes and hearing the soft whispers, didn't want a repeat of the other night, spoke up. "You guys wanna get the food to go?"
Tifa nodded, also seeing the glances. "We can eat on the balcony at the villa."
With the agreement made, the two couples placed their order with the waitress and while they waited, Cloud told them what they had found near the trail. After their assessment, Reeve had sent three troops to clear the trail. Previously, there had been discussion of repairing the train tracks that went through the Corel Mountains, and now the GRO was coming closer to bring that discussion into reality.
A few minutes later, their food was brought to their table and when they noticed a young woman making a beeline in Cloud's direction, the two couples quickly made their way out the door.
.:-o-:.
The trip back to the Villa was quick as Tifa led them out onto the balcony. The view was not of the ocean, but looking west over the grassy plains and towards the Corel Desert. Flowering bushes sat in their planters on the balcony while below in the garden, roses of various colors along with other fragrant flowers that were native to the Costa area as well as some exotics from Mideel. Down in one corner of the garden was a covered hot tub about the same size of the one they had back at the bungalow.
"Wow, they've really made some improvements." Yuffie said. The grounds to the rear of the estate weren't the overgrown mess that it had once been when Cloud purchased the Villa. While the Villa was community property amongst the members of Avalanche, Cloud was the one to make sure that the caretaker cared for the property when they weren't staying there, instead of simply dozing in the basement.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Tifa agreed as she took a seat and began sorting their meals. "It's so peaceful out here. And you'd think that since it's in the middle of the town, it'd be louder."
Yuffie said a quick prayer then opened the container for her burger and fries. She felt more than heard her stomach growl, but by the smiles on the faces of Cloud and Vincent, they had definitely heard. "Shut up!" She glared playfully, "I'm hungry!"
Cloud popped open his own food and laughed. "We can tell."
She grumbled and took a sip of her milkshake as they began chatting about various subjects, with Yuffie making plans with Tifa to spar with one another as well as to test Yoshi's progress. Eventually, the young ninja's burger was demolished leaving her with a few fries. Her hand fell to her lap as she swirled a fry in ketchup, but that idle motion stopped when she felt a hand wrap around her own. She looked up to see Vincent's crimson eyes soften before turning his attention back to the conversation around him. Yuffie tried to hide her smile, but couldn't wipe the grin from her face as she gave his hand a squeeze.
Once the food containers were tossed into a bag, Cloud ran a hand through his wild blond hair, turning to Yuffie and Vincent. "Did you guys hear?"
"What?" The teen asked.
"Reno was recently contacted by Tseng."
"Really?" Both women asked.
"You didn't say anything?" Tifa said, still surprised by this.
"Yeah, Tseng contacted them about two months ago."
"Hn," Vincent allowed the corner of his mouth to quark slightly. "I figured that he probably survived. The wounds, while severe, hit areas where there were mainly non-vital structures. The help that Aeris provided him would have given him the strength to get himself to safety before the temple collapsed in upon itself."
Cloud nodded in agreement with Vincent's statement. "Sephiroth could strike with a frightening precision with Masamune. We know that he had lapses of sanity so it's very possible that that was one of his lucid moments."
Yuffie nodded in agreement. "Jenova's hold must have weakened long enough for him to remember."
Once again the blond nodded his agreement before continuing the story that he had heard. "Apparently, Tseng managed to get far enough away and hunters from Nuli Greentol carried him back to their village to the east of the temple. He recovered there for three months before moving on to Mideel and when he was well enough, he helped with rebuilding Mideel with some of his savings and physical labor.
"Reno was contacted in June and they went to visit him. He's only just rejoined Reeve but not as a Turk, but in more of an advisory position."
"Wow..." Yuffie said, remembering her conversation with Elmyra. "You know, when we took Elmyra to the forgotten city, she told me something. She said that Tseng actually took care of Aeris when she was young. He made sure that she wasn't captured by Hojo and actually taught her to defend herself against anyone who might try to take her back to the labs. He gave her the guard stick."
Cloud blinked. He had never known that. The blond remembered when he first encountered the flower girl and expected her to be defenseless, but she did quite well at taking care of herself and with her staff. The blond shook his head fondly at the memory, a small smile tracing his lips. "I'm glad he did." Tifa nodded in agreement.
A strong gust of wind sent Yuffie's hair dancing around her face. The ninja reached up and pushed her dark brown hair behind her ear as she walked to the west side of the balcony. "Whoa!"
The other walked over and saw the dark clouds slowly but surely making their way towards the coastline. She had heard of the storms that occasionally popped up along the coast, but had never seen one during her vast travels. The couples made their way inside and Tifa turned on the television to the local news station. They were already alerting the people to the incoming rain, lightning, and high winds. They were predicted to pass during the late night or early morning hours. Originally they believed the system was going to pass more to the north but a sudden shift was sending the bulk of the weather towards the resort town.
"Well, at least it will pass before the others start arriving." Tifa said.
Yuffie nodded in agreement as Vincent spoke. "We should return to the bungalow."
"We should get a few supplies before we head back though just in case we lose power." She hugged her friends as Vincent gave his friends a single nod, ushering the ninja to the door.
"You guys be careful! We'll call you in the morning but let us know if there are any problems."
"We will! Bye Teef! Bye Cloudy!"
The swordsman and the fighter watched as their friends disappeared down the stairs and followed Tifa back inside. "We better check our own supplies as well."
"Right."
.:-o-:.
The grocery store where they stopped had a moderate number of customers. They moved through the aisles rather quickly, grabbing a few candles, batteries, a few bottles of water and various snacks they could eat without having to cook just in case the power went out. By the time they reached the checkout, the store was becoming crowded and lines stretched to the point that they were beginning to snake their way into the isles. Compared to the others in the store, they made it out quite quickly, and that was something they were grateful for.
Waiting at the Kalahou were two carriages to take the occupants of their properties back to the homes. The Chocobo took off at a steady trot making the trip faster than normal. Their driver explained that when they checked in on the twenty properties, only three of them were occupied and upon calling the contact numbers to inform about the incoming storm, many were in town while a few were out on the plains and were told to return.
They were taken straight to their unit and the attendant helped them take their provisions into the home while telling them to review the information booklet in the study on how to weather the storms that occasionally hit. They maintenance had already come to secure the items in the back yard. Yuffie nodded and tipped the man before showing him out. When the door closed, she turned and looked at the room appeared a bit darker than normal because of the incoming clouds. She watched Vincent move about the kitchen for a moment before going to join him in putting the items away.
Candles were placed in the kitchen, living room and bedroom before they decided on relaxing indoors and waiting the storm out. Yuffie pulled out her camera and disappeared on to the deck, managing to get a few good pictures of the dark rolling clouds with the waves crashing onto the shore. On the sandy beach, a few people were braving the increased winds to fly kites. The foreground of the image would be framed by the flowering plants that decorated their back yard.
The artist in her was eager to create this image when she returned to Nibelheim.
Yuffie came back in, turning off her camera in the process, to find Vincent sitting on the couch, reading the booklet. Grabbing her sketchbook and pencils from the counter, she plopped on the couch beside him, her head coming to rest on the firm, lithe muscles of his upper arm as she turned on the television. A smile traced her lips when she felt his lips brush her temple. A happy sigh escaped her lips as she flipped open her pad to the image she had been creating as Vincent made them breakfast.
.:-o-:.
The sound of the movie playing on the television played softly in the background, the rain was actually louder as hit the windows and roof. He wasn't watching the movie, he was watching the young woman whose head rest against his chest as they lie on the couch. Yuffie was fighting a valiant battle against the desire to sleep, influenced by the pounding rain, but she was losing. His hand began running along her back in soothing circles. It happened then.
Sleep 1, Yuffie 0.
The gunman continued the soft movements along her back and watched as she snuggled closer to his chest. Chaos purred in the back of his mind and this time, Vincent didn't tease his inner beast for the affectionate sound. Hell, if he could have, he probably would have been purring himself.
"Ive Nvil, Vincent." Chaos rumbled.
"Hn," he kissed her temple once more.
Not more than ten minutes later, a bright flash caused crimson eyes to blink at the sudden brightness and the sound of thunder sounded overhead caused Yuffie to jump with a squeak of alarm.
"What was that!"
"Just the thunder."
"Oh..." Yuffie yawned and he found himself wanting to yawn as well but she jumped once more when the sound rumbled through the room again.
He reached over and turned the television off before standing easily with her in his arms. "Let's go to bed." He said and watched as she nodded, draping her arms around his neck.
Long legs propelled them down the hall and to the bedroom, kicking the door shut behind him as they turned in for the evening as the storm raged outside.
.:-Author's Notes-:.
- Review responses from those that reviewed 58 are at the bottom! Because there was just a few, I decided to respond in here rather than do my regular PM's :) -
"Ive Nvil, Vincent..."
In three chapters, you will find out what Chaos said. Don't bother trying to look up the translation, because you won't find one...I know; I looked. The two times it pops up in google has nothing to do with what Chaos says. Maybe one person might figure it out, lol.
You see, I've actually made myself sit down and focus on the planning of chapters 56-66. Currently (as of 17 August 11) chapters 57 through 59 are done completely, while the planning/outline of 60-66 are finished. So far the word counts for 57, 58 and 59 are (in order and without AN's):
6,368 = 15 pages in word
3,214 = 9 pages in word
3,074 = 8 pages in word
Usually the outlines are 1-2 pages double sided, but the longest so far is chapter 61, which is 3 pages, double sided with no spaces with 6 additional post-it notes attached to those pages. (Addition: After handwriting all of chapter 61, it worked out to be 33 pages) It'll be interesting to see how long that chapter ends up word wise and if I'll have to end up splitting it up.
Chaos: -whispers- Ezzie has an obsession with Post-it notes...she has to force herself NOT to buy more when she goes grocery shopping.
Ez: Shut it, Chaos! I don't know why...they're just handy and call to me! Especially the oversized, colorful notes that come in 4 packs that are lined...-sighs- what a great invention.
Chaos: And they HAVE to be Post-it brand
Ez: Yeah! Cus the others don't stick!
Chaos: If she's shopping with her sister, the poor girl has to steer Ez away from the office supplies section.
Ez: ... ... I admit that. –Attaches post it note to chaos's skin and rips it off, taking skin with it- See! Staying power!
Chaos: -rubs arm and growls-
Tseng: -clears throat and has Reno and Rude break the demon and the authoress up- She's been working quite a bit since her eyes have gotten better.
Reno: -Nods in agreement to his boss- Irony hit her big time.
Ez: Its true, lol. When I was working on this, I had a migraine that wouldn't go away. I suffered with it for over a week, nearly a week and a half, but I didn't go to the ER because I don't have insurance. So I was taking Excedrin migraine, Aleve, ibuprofen, BC powder, and Tylenol extra strength and nothing worked. Then the vision in my left eye started fading so I called the doctor's office a bit frantic and explained that I couldn't go to the ER since I had no insurance so they managed to squeeze me in with the Doc on-call.
I got there and was told that I had a bit of transient blindness in my left eye. After a mixture of a shot in the rump and nine pills (a combo of three different meds) later, my migraine faded within three hours and the vision came back. So now I have a new Rx for migraine medication, which actually works pretty damn well when I feel the aura of my migraines start. The only side effect is that I have a tendency to fall asleep at random times. From what my sister says, I also talk in my sleep.
Yuffie: She laughed too!
Ez: I admit it; I did laugh while I was asleep...or at least not fully conscious, and I remember it. My sister was visiting and was sitting on my bed beside me, talking to her husband, and I heard the conversation and laughed at something she said. The next day when we went to go buy a crib, I asked her something that I thought I had dreamed, but it was actually part of the conversation with her hubby.
Anyway, my bud, Mystic fate (GO READ HER STUFF IF YOU LIKE CLOUD X ZACK) is threatening to take Vincent away from me if I don't finish Final Fantasy Crisis Core. I'm hesitant because we all know what happens to Zack's cute self. We've made a deal though, I complete Crisis core and she quizzes me, and if I pass the quiz, she has to read this story called "The Demilitarize Zone" By lexjamandme in full and I quiz her on it. She loves Sasuke, Itachi and Naruto but since she's so behind in the anime/manga, she doesn't read in the fandom all that often.
Anyway, I better get going. I gots work to do! Thanks for readin'!
Ezzie
Blue Raven: Ahhh, it's good to be loved! I'm actually glad to be able to start posting again! I'm trying to get out of my slump. No worries though, there will be more touching soon. I'm going to start posting the entire story on in preparation for a couple scenes I have planned in my mind, but actually haven't put on paper. There is no way that I can NOT have at least one love scene between our lovely couple!
My dear Empress! You know I'm always looking forward to your fics and updates! I so need to catch up on your Final Fantasy stuff! I've actually never seen transformers...but if I had, you know I'd be all over it too! I'm glad you noticed the stuff about Yuffie...I really wanted to bring that out. It was easy to let that scene play out in my head, though I still wanted to hug her for letting the part of her that is curious about physical love and the feelings/sensations that come with all that, out.
Chaotic Angel7: It's good to be back! Surprised by two updates in a week, hell, its better than one a year, right. I fail! Lol! More Vinnie/Yuffie action in this chapter for ya!
That guy too who cant log in: Oh I know that too well! I read fanfic on my psp often too when I'm not at my computer. It sucks that my job doesn't have wifi so I load 3 chapters of whatever I'm reading so I can read it while on my breaks, lol. The only thing that sucks is that certain sites are too detailed for some psp...not sure how the psp go behaves though. I'm kinda looking forward to seeing the PSP vita :-D I'm glad you're enjoying my story!
Classic anon: -shares baklava with Yuffie and Vincent- Here you go! Glad you're enjoying!
Thanks to all five of you! You guys are awesome and make this lil authoress very happy!