As soon as we got downstairs, I knew there was no reason to worry. Tifa was right, I recognized almost everyone, including Barrett. He was yelling at someone on his cell.
"I know you're there Spikey! PICK UP THE GODDAMN PHONE!!!" He roared, making me jump. I had no clue which poor sap would get their ears blown out by that message, but I wasn't about to ask. Just then, I felt someone wrap their arms around my leg, so I looked down. A little girl was looking up at me, her hair pulled back in a bow, a smile plastered all over her face. She looked at me with big eyes.
"Hi, who are you?" She asked still with a tight grip on my leg. I bent down so I could see her properly.
"I'm Celere. I'm one of Tifa's friends" I grinned and held out my hand. She took it. "Who are you?" I asked her.
"I'm Marlene, and this is Denzel. He has Geostigma just like you!" Marlene pulled an uncomfortable looking boy, about a year older than her, over. He had a patch of Geostigma the size of a cherry tomato on his forehead.
"Hi, Denzel." I said, putting my hand out again. He shook it warily. He had short brown hair, and wide eyes. He was shifting back and forth, so I let them run off.
I got up and walked over to Tifa. "Are those two staying with you, Tiffs?" I asked. They had come from upstairs.
"They're both orphans," She replied, "I hope you won't mind living with them," She said nervously.
"Oh no! It's fine, honest."
I spent the next while wandering around, letting people update me on their lives, and what they were doing now. Somewhere along the line, I was introduced to Yuffie Kasuragi, an 18-year-old ninja from Wutai. She seemed intent on finding Materia.
"Do you know if there are any good Materia merchants around here?" She asked "I'm looking for a Blizzard."
I thought "Last time I was here, there was a merchant about two blocks north," I paused, "Umm, I think he had some Blizzard ones, but I can't be sure…"
She didn't care, "Ooo, thanks, Cee." She said, running out the door, her shiruken strapped to her back.
"Cee?" I looked at Tifa.
"She makes friends fast," She said. "What can I say?"
Someone tapped me on the shoulder. I winced and spun around, startled. There was Reno, grinning like a maniac. I glared at him.
"What do you want?" It really annoyed me how cocky he looked, his shoulders slouched, hands in his pockets.
"Yo, no need to get touchy!" He said still grinning, "I just wanted to know if you wanted a drink. Tseng and Elena want to catch up."
"Oh, Elena?" I picked up my swords from the bar, "Oh, and I'll just have water." He smirked, so I went over to where the rest of the Turks were sitting. I sat down next to Elena.
"Haven't seen you in a while, Celere," Said Tseng, looking me over. "You've grown"
"Yeah, well so have you, genius," I said, grinning.
Elena stayed quiet, staring at my face.
"I know, the eyes sure are something, huh? No idea how it happened…" I sat there, staring into space, not paying attention , but still hearing and retaining every bit of stuff Elena and Tseng told me. Rude kept quiet. Reno brought me back to the present when he got back to the table with our drinks.
"Maybe you should have been a waiter, Reno. You'd be good at it" I said, eliciting snickers from Tseng and Elena. I grinned.
"Hardy har. Very funny. Hilarious." He said, not impressed. "I was just thinking―"
"Gasp! You were thinking? Tell me more!"
He glared at me. "I was just thinking, why would someone like you drink water?" He put the glass down in front of me, and sat down with his beer.
"I just came out of a God-knows-how-long coma, Reno. I think I'll play it safe."
"Aww, does that mean you don't want to fight?" He pouted, "Yo, I never had you pegged as the slow and steady type, but I guess I was wrong." He grinned.
"You had me at fight!" If there was one thing I remembered, it was the amount of time me and Reno spent fighting when we were younger. We were always at it, never stopping until one of us admitted defeat. We were pretty evenly matched, so the fights could last a while.
"Are you sure you don't want to wait, get your strength back?" He asked, feigning concern.
"Oh, shut up, Flame Boy." I drained the last of my water, got up, and walked towards the door. "Let's fight on the roof, we won't hurt anyone up there."
"Loser has to buy the winner unlimited drinks for the night, or until their money runs out." Reno smirked.
"Just get up here, you pompous idiot." I was already on the roof, stretching, and getting warmed up.
"Yo, did you just say pompous?" He asked looking at me incredulously.
"Okay, only one rule," I said ignoring him. "The game ends when one of us disarms the other."
"Seems fair, but no major injuries, okay?"
"Fine," I pouted. I got into position. "Let's go!"
It was fun. Reno managed to force one of my katanas out of my hand, but when he tried to swipe the other one, I back-flipped away from him, grabbing the one on the ground with my feet before landing gracefully. I stuck out my tongue.
Having only been shocked once, dodging his attacks was getting boring. I leaped over his surprised head and lunged forward; straight-out tackling him and sendng his taser flying.
"HA! I win!" I said, getting up and giving a thumbs-up to Tifa and Elena, who, along with everyone else in the bar, had come out to watch.
"Damn! Yo, you've gotten better!" He accused. I flashed him a smile.
"Aw, don't look so sad. I'll call a y'owe me, so you can save up the money to buy me those drinks." I smirked.
"What? Are you saying I don't have any money? Yo! I've got tons of ca― Hey! Where's my wallet?" Reno searched frantically through his pockets, while I doubled over with laughter. "Wow, you are blind, Reno." I said, waving his wallet under his nose.
"Give that back!" He lunged, but I side-stepped and tripped him.
"Ah, too easy! I swiped it before we even started!" I started going through it, but there was nothing to go through. It was completely empty.
"I thought you said―"
"That I had lots of cash? I do but I knew you'd pull something like this, yo, so I took it out."
"Fine, I guess - Oh!" I fell, the Geostigma on my wrists and back going to work. I was on my knees gasping for air, the pain was so intense. Then I started getting flashes; old memories, maybe. A guy, my age, with white hair like mine, and eyes like a cat's. A fuzzy image of Mako containment units.
"Gah!" I gasped, wobbling a bit on the edge of the roof. Reno grabbed my arm and pulled me back.
"Yo, umm, maybe we shouldn't have fought, seeing as you almost fell off the roof and all."
"Are you kidding?" I was totally recovered. I winced. Okay, maybe not totally. "That was awesome! Wait, who's that?" I pointed towards a guy dressed in a red tattered cape, with black hair. There was just something…
"Huh? Oh, that's Vincent Valentine, one of Shin-Ra's many experiments." Reno looked around "Hey, do you still have my wallet?"
"Yeah, but seeing as you tricked me, I think I'll keep it." I smirked. "And there's nothing you can do about it!" I did a back flip off the roof, landing nimbly on the ground. Reno landed right in front of me, making me jump back.
"Give it."
"I'll fight you for it!" I said, knowing he was way too tired.
"Yo, you're a freak, you know that?" He shook his head.
"Who are you calling a freak, Flame Head?" was my genius retort, and I immediately regretted it.
"Ooo, why you…" he lunged at me, but I dodged it, running away, laughing my head off. Unfortunately, I had run into a dead-end. I backed away along the wall, keeping my focus on Reno.
"Wow, you cornered yourself, I'm impressed. You never used to be that scatterbrained." He smirked. That's when my back hit the wall. I looked around, searching for an escape. Then I saw her. Aka Tora was parked in a little alcove, in beside the back door to Tifa's bar.
Reno followed my stare. "Oh, no you don't!" But I had already reached her. I punched a button, hoping it was the right one. Luck was with me, and she started to shift. Reno made a grab for me, but I jumped onto the newly formed hover board and zoomed up the wall.
"Okay, that's not fair!" He yelled from the ground.
"Too bad!" I yelled back. I turned away from the edge, looking out over what was left of Midgar. Bad idea. Reno attacked from behind while I wasn't paying attention. He landed on my back, pinning me down.
"Now. Can I have my wallet back?"
"Fine, just get off me!" His weight on my back was really aggravating my Geostigma. I tossed him his wallet and he got up, catching it and putting it back in his pocket.
"Yo, next time, pay attention, it might do you some good." He smirked as I got up and dusted myself off. I grimaced as my hands and stray pieces of gravel made contact with the Geostigma on my wrists.
"Maybe we should go back and get you bandaged up." He said, seriously.
"Fine, but not my back." I argued. I picked up Aka Tora, and put her under my arm.
"I'll carry that, and yes, your back" I reluctantly gave him the board, then jumped off the building to the ground. We bickered the whole way back, until I left him to put Aka Tora away. I went inside.
"Hey Tiffs, do you think you could bandage my wrists?"
"And her back," Reno added as he walked in.
"NO! My back is fine." Reno came over to where I was standing.
"Oh really?" He said, seeing through me. "Then this won't bother you." He put his hand between my shoulder blades. A hiss escaped my lips as I fought back the pain, and the heat creeping up my cheeks. My vision blurred slightly.
"I knew it. Yo, Tifa, make sure she's completely bandaged up."
"I can fight you off," I warned her.
"Yo, if you put up any kind of fight, I will do it myself, Celere." Reno threatened. I glared at him, but let Tifa pull me upstairs.
When I came back down, I was still pissed, so I tried to avoid Reno. In my quest of avoidance, I noticed a familiar head of spiky blonde hair. I walked over.
"Chocobo Head?" I asked.
Cloud Strife turned around, "Celery?" he asked.