"Come on, Yufs! Drink the rest of it! You can do it!"
Yuffie wanted to strangle the young, teenaged girl. She let more of the tea go down her throat and groaned.
"Yuck!"
"It only tastes bad because you let it go cold," Tifa said maternally. "Tea is only good hot or iced…never lukewarm."
The guest room door opened noisily. Cloud walked into the room unannounced and without a word. He went into Tifa's closet and began search through the clothes. Tifa gawked in shock and humiliation before leaping off her bed.
"Hey!" she cried. "Nothing in there belongs to you!"
Tifa stepped into her closet, and a black dress flew towards her. She caught it before seeing another black dress fly through the air.
"What are you…?"
"You need something black to wear," Cloud answered. "Choose from whichever I give you."
Tifa caught two more dresses. The clatter of hangers filled the closet.
"Why black?" asked Tifa. "Are we going somewhere?"
"Yes, we are going somewhere. Don't ask where; you'll find out. Don't ask why; it's complicated. In fact, don't ask anything whatsoever."
Cloud threw three more dresses to her and walked out past her. Tifa followed like a curious puppy.
"Uh…"
"Freshen up too," Cloud added. "I recommend that you take a bath…we leave in two hours. Traffic is heavy at this time of day…so we have to leave very early."
And the bedroom door creaked shut. For a moment, the three girls stared at each other, completely speechless. Tifa let all of the dresses fall on the bed.
"That was odd," Juusang whispered. "Even for him…"
"Why do these things mostly happen on Sundays?" Heather asked quietly. "It can't just be a coincidence."
Heather delicately fixed the tie around Cloud's neck.
"Mother and father were killed on a Sunday too," Cloud replied. "Maybe you're right…it may be a pattern."
Heather chuckled nervously and finished the tie. She opened a small briefcase and they inspected it together.
"Are these alright?" Heather asked meekly. "I can change a few things if you'd like…like these shoes for instance. Will it be difficult?"
"No," he said. "Everything's perfect."
Heather tugged gently tugged the jacket of his suit.
"Cloud…be careful…that man frightens me…"
Cloud patted her gently on the head.
Tifa kept turning around, staring at herself in the closet mirror. The black dress hugged around her curves and held itself up by a single strap…one of her favorite dresses.
"I guess I'm ready to go," she mumbled.
Tifa grabbed a coat off of its hanger. She left the closet and was soon joined by a group…in the form of several women.
"Dressing a little risqué there, aren't ya?" Yuffie asked. "I thought you said it wasn't a date…"
"It's not," Tifa retorted. "I don't even know what it is!"
"If you don't know what it is," Marlene said, "How do you know it's not a date?"
A small vein popped in Tifa's neck. Yuffie noticed and wisely stepped back.
"I just know!"
Tifa forced herself through the crowd, grabbed her purse from the bed, and stormed out of the room.
Marlene dashed to the door to watch her retreating figure. Shera poked her head from the door.
"Hey, Tifa!" Shera shouted. "Make sure not to stay out to late with my big cousin!"
Tifa screamed out of disgust and walked away faster.
"It's not a date," Tifa mumbled.
"Huh?"Cloud asked.
Tifa gave him a 'don't ask' look. Cloud mentally shrugged and kept driving in the slow traffic. Tifa blew out, sounding like a whistle.
"So you're not even going to tell me anything," Tifa said begrudgingly.
"Nope."
Tifa whimpered in annoyance and began to scowl and pout.
"Stop leering," Cloud scolded. "It detracts from you beauty."
She stuck her tongue at him in defiance. Cloud shook his head…but this time he did not smile like he usually did. Tifa barely noticed.
"I have my reasons, you know."
"And what are those reasons?" Tifa inquired. "Or are you not going to answer that either?"
"Nope…nope."
Tifa sighed in defeat and began to watch the traffic. Sitting in a long line of cars was a total drag…especially if you're the driver.
"You're not in a good mood," Tifa declared. "You don't stop talking when you are. Is something wrong?" Or will you not answer that either?"
She finally saw what appeared to be a smile. Tifa felt somewhat relieved.
"Just a lot on my mind," Cloud answered. "Is there a problem with that."
Tifa snickered and said no.
Two men in black suits watched from the eighth floor of the Waldorf-Astoria. One scanned the streets below with binoculars.
"See them yet," asked his companion.
"Not yet…there must've been traffic on the Lincoln Tunnel…he's not late yet."
Shrugging his shoulders, he let his accomplice observe the busy streets.
"This man…the guy that Gerald sent... the one who's ordering us around…he seriously creeps me out…"
The man kept at staring through the binoculars. "Lots of people are scary in this business."
"This is not a normal kind of scary," the accomplice argued. "It's the kind of scary that makes you want to run screaming into the night. He's like Jerald Becton…a hundred times over…he just hides it better…"
The man squinted into his binoculars and shushed his partner in crime. He watched a black car park by the sidewalk. A man got out from the driver's seat, walked around the front of the car, and opened the shotgun seat for a lady.
"They're here," he said.
He eyed the other man, signaling him to inform "the higher up".
"The Waldorf-Astoria," Tifa announced. "I've been here a few times."
"Then you'll be right at home."
Cloud led her to the middle lobby restaurant, Peacock Alley.
"There should be table reserved," he said. "It's a party of two under the name of Mr. Sherman. Don't leave this restaurant unless it's an emergency."
Tifa agreed without question.
"If everything goes fine, I'll come back and join you here for dinner. If not, I will still come back…but we'll leave immediately."
Tifa watched as he quickly left her at the front of the restaurant. As he disappeared from her sight, Tifa felt a sense of uneasiness, fear, and worry...but it was not for her.
As for Cloud, he kept going until he reached the elevators, where the two men in black where waiting. One of the men pushed the elevator button, and it promptly opened. He beckoned for Cloud to follow.
"Give us your watch," one of them commanded.
Cloud unsnapped the watch and handed it to one of them.
They flanked him inside the elevator, for security reasons. Their faces were sour and uninviting...enough to make a sudden chill…if you were not used to it. The elevator doors opened, and they lead him to a room in the hotel.
"What's in the briefcase?" one of them asked.
"An extra set of clothes," Cloud answered.
They opened the door and let him in.
"Do it quickly," they said. "The man over us doesn't like to be kept waiting."
"He'll wait for me."
The door slammed in Cloud's face. He briefly commented on their rudeness before plunking the briefcase onto the bed. He stepped back into the bathroom.
Twenty minutes later:
"Why is he taking so long?"
One man had stayed by the room; the other was on an errand. He wished that he had gone too. Angrily, he rapped on the door.
"Hurry up!" he yelled. "It's been twenty minutes…"
Instead of getting a man's answer, the man was surprised by a woman's screams.
"Ah shut up!" she shot back. "Why don't you try putting on women's clothing?"
He heard loud cluttering and the running of feet fill the room. A moment later, a lady opened the door without care, grumbling curses.
"Just on a personal question," the man said. "Man to man. Is putting on women's clothing dangerous?"
"It's worse than a groping in the dark," Cloud replied. "I don't recommend it."
"Your voice has changed drastically."
"It comes with the form."
They walked down the hall together, the man in black looking at him with macabre interest.
"Technically, it's real," Cloud replied. "And technically it's not."
"Huh?"
"I'm still a man, but I appear to be and sound like a woman. I am what I am…but I've made myself not look like myself. This form is different from what I really am…If you touch me, I feel like a woman, but I'm really not. I am no longer in my real form, but I have not changed my gender either. You could say that I am currently… between my real form."
The man's left eye began to twitch in confusion.
"Uh…"
"You're new to Blue Lotus," Cloud said. "I can tell now."
"Stop playing mind games on me," the man screamed.
Cloud rolled his eyes and shrugged his shoulders.
"I was only teasing you," he said. "I was bored…but I wasn't lying…you'll understand what I mean after a while."
The elevator beeped and opened for them.
"If you study quantum physics and the theory of everything, it'll come to you."
"We will not talk like this," the man said. "We are on the opposite side of each other."
"You don't believe in 'dining with your enemies'?"
The man in black decided to ignore him for the rest of the walk.
Inagiku Restaurant was an exotic, futuristic fusion, the favorite of Waldorf-Astoria. Meaningless chatter filled the room, where the lights ranged from brightly to dimly lit. Sephiroth sat alone at a table, waiting patiently.
Cloud sat down, unannounced, across from his host. The man in black stood at the table nervously.
"Do you…do you need…anything else, s…sir?"
"No," Sephiroth replied briefly. "Go."
The man took another at Cloud before walking away frantically.
"Can't get good help these days?" Cloud asked.
He received a laugh and a nod.
"They were rude too," Cloud added. "They shut a door in my face and refused to banter with me…that never happened before."
"They just got their jobs; they're hopeless."
"You've become rather impolite too," he continued. "Calling me in the afternoon to meet you a few hours later…have you no manners?!"
Sephiroth started laughing again.
"That's why I enjoy your company. You're so unusually feisty…in an amusing sort of way…you drive other people nuts, but it amuses me. You haven't changed a bit, my dear Cloudie-sama…"
"Call me that again," Cloud answered, "and you automatically earn a kick in the nuts."
A bottle of sake and two ceramic Japanese liquor glasses were set on the table by a waitress. Sephiroth poured the first glass for his guest.
Happy New Years...