Notes: I had intended to finish this chapter last week, but I've recently restarted a serious fic that has taken up all my attention. That and I feel guilty because there are other gift-fics I need to be working on. Whoops.
Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, I appreciate it~.
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When people think about drinking in snowy areas, they think hot chocolate, they think mint-flavor and sweets. What Cid thinks is that he will never get the taste of mint out of his mouth after accidentally ordering the local special. It did warm him up though, which was the only thing that spared the inn worker from receiving a scathing lecture on the importance of serving proper tea when someone asked for it, not this shit masquerading as tea.
He was beginning to notice a trend when it came to tea and the northern continent and he wasn't sure he liked it. As he stepped out the door, out into the cold, he lit a cigarette and took a puff then immediately gagged as the aftertaste of mint combined with the taste of his smoke. He glared at his cigarette like it had betrayed them and reconsidered turning around and giving his server what-for. No one should ever drink mint tea that was that strong.
Before he could turn around on his heel and dish out the scolding they so clearly deserved, a blur of blue, white and blonde went rolling down the hill, right through where he would have been if he hadn't stopped to cough. A couple of Shinra infantry soldiers followed behind the blur, shouting and waving. A glance at the top of the hill revealed blondie standing there with a dumbstruck look on his face.
Cid could put two and two together.
He gave him a thumbs up and kept walking.
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By mutual agreement, they never speak of what happened on the glacier. Only that it was a thing that happened and they all should move on.
To this day, Cid would tell anyone who asks that the entire thing is too fucking stupid to comprehend and that they should stop fucking asking unless they want his goddamn spear up their ass.
Only one person has ever dared to ask.
(The truth is that the Glacier is lacking in both tea and cigarettes and Cid required both to be civil to anyone. If he wasn't happy, no one was going to be.)
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For entirely different reasons, no one ever talks about what happened in the crater either.
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On the way to Junon, Cid and Rufus had a little chat. Names were called, creative swears and chairs were thrown about, but in the end, Cid sat down and listened because the man might be an evil dictator hell-bent on ruling the world -and also the brat he used to baby-sit from time to time when he was rising in the ranks- but he served some damn good tea. He also knew what Cid had learned already.
AVALANCHE was going to do whatever the fuck they wanted to, no matter what obstacle was in their way. They had tasted loss and they didn't like it. Cid didn't bother wondering when he became a part the band of idiots he was tagging along with, instead focused on Rufus and his damn smirk, taking a drag from his cigarette as he considered his offer.
"Shinra," he began, savoring his next words as he cut through the bullshit Rufus was spouting about saving the planet and not making a nuisance of himself, "Get the fuck off my ship."
It's as close to agreement as he would allow himself to get. Rufus had drawn the line when he took his airship and then tried to take his baby and he fucking knew it. The asshole looked at him, gliding to his feet in one smooth movement.
"You haven't changed." The bastard shot at him as he left the room and hopefully the god damn ship. Cid snorted, taking another drag of his cigarette and blowing out a cloud of smoke. He stubbed the remainder out in the ash-tray.
"I've changed e-fucking-nough." He said to no one, thinking of water and flowers, a warm smile even as her life faded out. He might not be doing it for the same reasons, he might not even give a damn about the planet, but like hell he was going to let that little girl's death be in vain.
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Cid sat in his quarters, staring at the empty tin cup he had set on the table as he drank from its mate. Shinra's drama was playing out, Tifa's life was on the line and he was waiting for a goddamn chance to do the right thing. His team was with him, like they had been before, no questions asked.
He was stealing his own goddamn airship. For something he didn't believe in. He took a swallow of his tea, glaring at the cup as the intercom crackled and started spouting off some nonsense about sea monsters and rescuing someone off the goddamn Junon cannon.
"You had better be alright," he snapped at it as if its owner were sitting there instead. "Or I'll fucking kill you myself." Then he turned around and went out to save the day.
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TBC
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I know I said that I was going to arrange the chapters by disc, but that seemed like a good place to end it, so... Yes, here it is.
Thank you very much for reading, I hope you enjoyed it~.
Please consider leaving a review on your way out.