Chapter 4: Uncertainty

"Zack."

"Reno?"

"You sure we should give him this necklace?"

"Up to you… you want him don't you?"

"Yeah… Tonight then?"

"Tonight."

"WHAT? Just because your lover-boy was there, doesn't mean you can ditch your work." Tseng screamed, as usual. To be honest, I was quite surprised to see him at the church with the flower girl… And how they all of a sudden got so intimate… bodyguard, eh? Who do you think you are Cloud.

I saw Cloud lying on the floor, having his ass beaten by a Hell House. I quickly jumped into battle and all it took was a hit from my EMR, I wonder how Cloud failed to kill that thing, having been in SOLDIER. I looked around the beaten place, where ladders and the swings were all wrecked, for his sword, but it didn't seem to appear. The only thing that looked like it was still intact was that slide, the cat looking slide that children used to play on.

"Poor Cloud," I thought, but this was going to end, and he's coming back with me, I thought again. But that thought didn't last long. The flower girl appeared out of nowhere. Perfect. My chance for a double kill. I'll just talk her into this… it'll be easy, like with Cloud… heh… Without another thought she struck me with her staff.

"What the fuck, yo?" She hit me continuously, ignoring the fact that I was talking to her. She hit me hard again and I was knocked 180 degrees around, holding my arms up for protection.

That's it. Holding my EMR fully charged, I turned around and swung as hard as I could. But I hit nothing. They weren't there anymore. Wow?

"This food is delicious!" Aeris mumbles as she finishes her plate. All I'm worried about is Tifa. "Why don't you eat your food?" I stare at her, and I shrug, hopefully she gets the point. Without another movement needed to be made, she takes my plate and starts eating it too. Boy, can she eat.

It's quite interesting to have met her through my mishaps. Or rather, through hers with her encounter with the Turks…. Yes, Turks. But hey, I can't say much, we helped each other quite a bit. She's a good girl. "Hey, Aeris, do you think we'll be good enough-- or I'll be good enough to go in that mansion?"

"No."

"What?"

"Well, what did you expect; your hair is anything but a girl's."

"What should I do? Make is straight down? It's long enough for it I hope…"

"Maybe. You wanna go try it?" Is she for serious? I cringe at the sight of my hair looking like Reno's after the shower, except his is red.

We leave the bar and was kindly give a coupon for the pharmacy, like we would ever need it. Our next stop is the barber shop, where the owner greets us in a generous manner. "So who's up for a cut today?" I tell her enough to make her understand, but that's not a lot, really. "Look like a girl, eh? I can do that for you."

She tells me she'll be right back and instructs me to close my eyes for the surprise and I do, letting my mind wander.

"Haha, you'll never need a haircut, don't change your hair, that's how I found out that you were here anyway." Zack said playfully. So he was in SOLDIER I thought.

"Why'd you just leave… Nibelheim?" I confronted him.

"Sorry, ya? Parents wanted to go back, but you know me, I've always wanted to join SOLDIER. And here I am. And so are you. I guess you followed me here?" To be honest, he was half-right. I did want to join to see whether he was here or not.

"Alrighty!" The owner said. What the fuck is all that is going through my mind right now. What the heck did she do? I died a little inside, mourning for my once-perfectly-sculptured hair.

"PFFFT" Aeris is laughing so hard, it's getting on my nerves. "What on Earth is that! Good thing I came prepared." She gives me a smile. She hands the owner some gil and takes out this wig. "Here you go." Better than what I have right now, I let myself think. "Now you're perfect. Hair, and let's go get the dress."

We take a slow stroll, looking at the terrific scenery of the slums. "You know, I've always wondered how it would be, leaving Midgar." I ask her did she know where she wanted to go to if she did leave Midgar. "Not really," was all that I got.

"How about this. After we're done doing all this crap, you know, I'll take you to some place you've never been before." That's very nice of me.

"Are you serious? That would be lovely! Okay, let's go get your dress now." How easy is it to make a girl happy. Our slow stroll finally ends and we arrive at the dress shop. I ask for something that's soft and shimmery and Tada, a silk dress. What is about to happen is NOT expected.

"Wheew Wheew" The man who made the dress whistles. "A full blown chick. You can seriously go to the Honey Bee Inn and get a few customers." I don't know what he's thinking, but heh… I must look nice. "A tip though, if you do, go get some perfume. A girl without perfume, well… let's just end it with that."

"Thanks a lot, how much is it?" I ask.

"One night." My ears bled. "I'm just kidding. 350 Gil." I must have been beet red.

"Reno?" My boss came in. My semi-real boss.

"Yo." I give him.

"Is that how you greet your superiors?" Rufus asks, annoyed.

"Umm… when did you get so bossy?" I kid him, taking no particular interest in this talk. Cloud… Where the hell are you?

"Zack… You never… liked him?"

"Reno… come on. You know for a fact that I'm not into that kind of stuff."

"But…" I continued.

"Reno, seriously. You both know that it's gonna change after we give him that necklace. It'll be fun, watching you two get along."

"Oh shut up Zack, you can join too if you want."

Zack suddenly spat out what he was eating. "Are you sure you wouldn't be jealous?" He winks.

"Fuck off."

A/N: sorry for the late update. Cough. I've been at school and all that… really busy. Hope you enjoyed the chapter :P. Oh btw, I'm planning to either change the first person view thing… or maybe make the story past tense or smth. It's getting hard to write haha.

Oh please! Review!