Chapter 3: Brilliant Ideas
"Wake up! Are you alright?" A familiar voice says to me. "Why'd you leave?" I am relieved to know that it's Aeris here. In her mother-know-it-all posture, she scolds, "You shouldn't have left me this morning! You know I could get worried…" And I start to tune her out… man…
"Why'd you leave last night?" He found me in a bar late at night the next day.
"What am I supposed to do? Walk in while you were fucking your boss?" I yelled at him. The whole bar turned around and paid us all their attention. I didn't care though, I waited for him for the whole day to come to me and explain, but I just ended up sitting here, until now.
"Cloud…"
"What!" God, I was pissed. What was he trying to prove? Next thing I know, he pulled me from my chair and out the back door. He rammed me against the wall, and we started to kiss, locking our lips together. He was feeling me up, and I instantly felt aroused. The only problem was…
I pushed him off.
"What, yo?" He was annoyed, I could tell.
"What is this? Some kind of make-up for yesterday? Is this what you do to everyone else who finds out that you're fucking with another guy?" Did I sound pissed or what.
"That's not it, I'm here because I really do care about you."
"Bullshit. I hate you!" I yelled out at him.
"C'mon… I'm sorry babe, I was bored… and we never do anything anymore, you know?"
And I ran off into the dark.
"Are you even listening to me?" Still in her worried and angered voice. I tell her I'm sorry and that I'm still a little dizzy from that fight. "Oh, sorry!" She takes out a potion and hands it to me to drink. I guess that worked in stopping her nagging. "Hold on, I'll grab you something to eat." And she left the room.
When she did, I immediately recognize this room. The same red-orange walls, the comfy single bed, and a scent of watermelon soap. Same room I was in last night. She walks in the room with some cooked meat and bread. "You can eat whatever you feel like." I start eating and feel thirsty, and I motion my hand so she understands. "Oh sorry!" And she starts off the bed. "Oh you know… When I found you this morning, that same Turk tried to take you away. He told me he was no harm, but trying to kidnap me first, and now you? I fought him, and he just ran off." And she leaves the room.
Was it… Reno? Same Turk? It has to be! I jump off the bed, despite my appetite and my wounds, and run down the flight of stairs. Aeris yells, "Where are you going?" I ignore her and run back to where I was before, and not to my surprise, no one's there.
This place looks really beaten up. But there is one that catches my eye. The cat-looking slide made for little kids… It brings back memories.
We sat beside each other, on top of the playground, on top of everyone.I was only 13 then. I had already known Zack. "Zack promise me, don't ever leave without me alright?" I said. I didn't know why, but I was always so attached to Zack. And he never minded it.
"Ya, ya." He held my hand, and that gave me a feeling; one that I could never forget. I didn't know what it was that time, and after that day, I was always with him, no matter what.
It just occurred to me though, after a few days, he had left town. I tried looking for him, where his parents and he used to live. But, they no longer were there. I heard rumors that he had left town with his parents to go back to where they originally came from, Gongaga. That was… half a continent away. I couldn't bear having him leave like that. What's more, I couldn't bear having him lie to me about staying with me.
"Hey! You forgot your sword again!" Aeris runs up behind me, holding the heavy sword while catching her breath. "You don't want me to go with you, do you."
"Actually, I wouldn't mind some company at all." I say selfishly. I just didn't want to be alone right now. She asks me to follow her, and I do; up the slide and we're both sitting there, talking about our childhood. I become accustomed to her company, and I actually do like her very much, except she is one heck of a mother figure.
We hear a noise of a cart and we turn around to see a cart pulled by a chocobo pass by us. I immediately recognize the figure, and I yell out, "Tifa!"
"Where are they heading to?" I ask Aeris who seems to know this place pretty well. I soon learn that we're heading towards Wall Market, following that cart as close as we could without being spotted.
"Promise me something Cloud. If you get famous and I'm ever in a bind… You'll come save me, all right?"
I'll come and save you alright, I tell myself. We run through the whole market and Tifa was no where to be seen. I start to lose hope, and we finally reach the end. We reach a mansion which its door is guarded by a guy.
"Do you think we should try?" Aeris asks as we're just staring at the door from far away, lost at what we should be doing next.
"We have to try, we--… I have to save Tifa." I stutter.
"We." She reassures me. I return a smile, and we both walk up to the man and ask for entrance. "Do you think we coul--"
"Hey baby, of course you can come in. But you," pointing at me, "Out." The guard finishes. "The Don does not want guys." That sends a shiver down my spine.
Aeris pulls me aside and asks, "Do you want me to go in to look for Tifa?" Obviously, I reject that suggestion at once. One, Tifa's not gonna know who she is. Two, I'm not gonna risk her. Three, well… I'm supposed to be the one to save Tifa, right? "Then what do you want me do," she snaps back.
"Well?" The impatient guard says. I'm thinking hard, trying to think of a way so I could get in. And in the midst of thought,
"Hey, I have a hot friend I want to bring along; do you think you could wait a little?" Aeris asks. Of course, guys will always be guys, and the man at the door nods. "Well, Cloud, this is it." I ask her what she was thinking while we're walking away, and how the heck are we supposed to find another girl? A hot girl. "Don't worry Cloud," she reassures me again, "we're gonna make you into a hot chick."
"What the fuck?" I blurt out randomly. Well not randomly, I mean what the hell is she thinking, seriously. I should have never brought her along. I start to get angry and all, but what am I supposed to do. That know-it-all is right. I have to pretend, pretend, to be a girl to get in. Sigh…
"You're such a girl," Reno remarked while clipping his nails.
"Pssh, you're the one to talk," I snapped back. I didn't mind, actually, whatever made him happy. It's weird how I became attached to him. It was… sorta something that just happened. After Zack, it was all hazy, and all I remembered was waking up one day, being in him room, and having him ask me how was last night.
Seriously… what were we doing…
"Ok. Let's do it." I give a smile, a mischievous one, of course. We move from store to store, and we finally find a dressmaker. Or at least, the dressmaker's daughter. "He's not in right now, probably drinking his life away again." She sighs, "Do you think you could bring him back here? He'd make a dress for… you." She starts chuckling.
"No problem," Aeris replies and drags me out. We walk to the bar that we previously had visited. It is quite empty, but true enough, the dressmaker is there. "Let me handle this," Aeris gives me a wink. A shiver went down my back.
"Excuse me sir," The drunken man looks up and his eyes turn wide. He holds Aeris' body close and asks her what she needs.
"Hey!" I yell. But Aeris nods and I think she means it's okay. I feel bad for making her do this. Well I didn't make her, she's doing it for Tifa, and for me, I guess. But I turn away, couldn't bear the look of the scene. I start to eavesdrop, but all I can hear is mumbling. I turn back to them and see Aeris continuing her explanation. What explanation? How the heck do I know. Finally, I see the man nod a few times and slowly releasing his grip on her.
He gives me a weird look.
"What?" What does he want now.
"Hmm… This shouldn't be hard. I've actually always wanted to try something like this." The man pays his bill and leaves the bar.
"See I told you it would work!" The flower girl says.
"Yeah, but I wouldn't be surprised if you told him you would have sex with him. Seriously." I flare back at her. She immediately turns three shades redder.
A/N: Sorry for the long update. School and stuff… err… getting on my nerves! Hope you enjoy, and please review!