Author's Note: I'll be honest people. The reason I wrote this chapter is pretty selfish. I wasn't having that much fun with writting when I did this, felt like I was constrained by the flow of the stories I had created. And part of it was showing in how I wrote. This is my "vacation" chapter. I have no idea where half of it came from, just from a hidden corner of my mind, but honestly, it was fun to write, and I needed that. Hope it's at least half as fun to you as it was to me.
An Unfinished Scrapbook
The Fifth Picture
The Golden Ticket
Shin quickly made its way back to the house he was staying in. He didn't like thinking it as his house, not yet. It had barely been a month ever since he had been offered a stay in Mobliz, in Terra's house no less. He felt more like a freeloader than an owner.
In any case, the reconstruction of Mobliz was doing rather fine for the state the world was in, good enough that he found it possible to find some time for themselves. He clasped the pair of tickets he had gone to pick up and opened the door.
"Terra, I got them!" Shin exclaimed, entering the partially emptied house. They had sent the kids off to be at Celes' knowing that today they'd be out the entire day, maybe even the night, Shin didn't really want to be constrained about coming back to the orphans, just this once.
With that being said, he was surprised to find Terra nowhere in sight, not even a response came to greet him. He headed towards the kitchen, wondering if she had simply been preparing something to eat on the go.
His efforts were met with less than positive results, as the kitchen was as drab and dark as the rest of the house. A faint worry haunted him. Nothing should be threatening them, not after all they had been through, but this was unlike Terra. Had she left without him?
"Terra! Can you hear me?!" He exclaimed, his cries answered with silence. And then, wood cringed. Shin's honed instincts quickly tracked it, just to his left. Faint sparkles of violet hovered across the exit to the kitchen, however, there were no steps to be heard. Shin took action immediately, jumping towards his lead, and yet again climbing the stairway in a single jump. He was there just in time to see a door snapping shut. The door to his and Terra's room.
He was confused, but he didn't question anything, he'd get an answer soon enough. He forced the door open, it wasn't even locked. Someone had been in a hurry.
He looked into the dark room, and saw the culprit, uselessly hiding on one of the corners of the room.
"Terra… are you alright?" Shin questioned, genuinely concerned, unable to understand what would have lead Terra to do this.
"Do I… look alright?" Terra sobbed, looking back at Shin, tears brimming on eyes. To Shin, besides the tears, she did. Her problem didn't even register in his brain.
"You look hurt but…"
"Shin, I'm an Esper," Terra pointed out before he could say anymore. Shin was a bit taken aback. He had acknowledged that the moment he had opened the room, it was kinda why it was so easy for him to find her. Can't really hide in a dark room when you glow. But he didn't understand what the problem had been, Terra had long come to terms with herself… hadn't she?
"Is this about who you are? Look, Terra, it doesn't ma-"
"Shin, please, you think I'm that weak? I'm fine with what I am, that's not the problem here!" Terra interrupted again, anger, the kind of anger Shin knew came from stress, flowed out in her words. It didn't anger him, it just confused him. He wondered what her problem was, before slowly coming to a conclusion.
"Terra, you can't be serious…" Shin began, kneeling in front of her. "What's making you so agitated?" somethings could never be changed. Terra's Esper form had one trigger, emotions. The raw nervousness and stress in her voice had been a clear tell of why she was morphed now, and why she was not turning back.
She was a nervous wreck.
"L-Leo got sick today. Celes called in to warn me. She didn't know what it was, I immediately offered to go there, but she had already gotten a doctor to come to her place. It wasn't anything serious he said, but she couldn't quite say what it was. She told me to enjoy myself for the day, that I had been too overworked, and deserved a day off. I tried, but… the moment I looked into a mirror, I was my Esper self," she began, clutching her knees and biting the bottom of her lip. "I kept calling Celes, I wanted to leave, but she forbade me. She trusted the doctor. Turns out, it was barely anything serious. Just a common cold he had hidden to keep on playing that hard worsened. I was relieved, but…"
Shin understood her immediately. For as much as they wanted to play it off, it had not even been half a year ever since events that had maybe done more to scar her then her entire childhood.
"I… can't forget when I wasn't there for them. I know it's stupid. I know that I can't always be with my babies, but… I couldn't forget the one time I couldn't be there for them…"by now, Shin had slowly embraced her. These panic attacks weren't uncommon. And they weren't even tied to Terra alone. He too suffered from them more than he would like when alone. "I was able to hold it back though. Regain my composure. But I was still shaken enough that I couldn't change back. Then I remembered what day it was. Where we're supposed to be today, and I got even more nervous. I can't be in front of all those people as an Esper! The more I thought about not changing back in time, the worse I got. This was our one special day Shin, and I was, no, I am ruining it!" Shin kept cradling his beloved, trying his best to be her pillar, but while he did, he looked at his tickets, pondering what the best course of action would be. The safe path would be to just stay at home, console Terra, share an evening drowning out old sorrows.
But that was not what they needed.
"Terra, do you trust me?" Shin asked, looking at his lover straight into her violet eyes. Terra didn't speak, but her gaze was all the acknowledgement he needed. "Then go get ready, we're leaving as soon as I can get Stardust saddled up,"
"Shin, no!" she screamed, her latent magic pushing him back against the bed. "I cannot just show up like this. There will be hundreds… thousands of people there!"
"I know Terra, and that's exactly why we need to go," he told her, slowly holding onto her hand. "Trust me Terra… you will understand when we get there,"
"Shin I… this is too much," she told him, diverting her gaze for a moment. A pregnant silence filled the room as both of them tested each other's conviction. Seeing as Shin would not take anything back, Terra closed her eyes, and nodded. "Just tell me why."
"It's my best shot at making you truly be at peace," Shin told her, clasping her hand. She understood that not even he was sure of what he wanted to come from this, but there was a sense of earnestness in his voice. He truly felt this would help her, and for her, that was enough.
"I will try. But-"
"If the going gets rough, feel free to just wisp away. You got some perks from birth, didn't you?" he told her smiling, kissing her lightly on the lips and standing upright. "Now dry up those tears, I'll be readying Stardust," he told her, leaving the room, leaving the tickets behind.
Terra took those tickets, taking a deep breath before interiorizing it all. Her ticket read:
"The Gabbiani Gold Saucer Grand Reopening. VIP Guest, Terra Branford." She mouthed out loud. "I hope you are sure about his Shin, Lenneth knows I'm not…"
Just a couple of hours later, the couple neared their destiny. The Gold Saucer was a healthy amount of distance away from Mobliz, but if there had been something they had taken from the endless fighting that had been their lives, is that they were now able to get anywhere they wanted faster than mere fast. Especially Terra, who, in her Esper Form, was clearly slowing down to let her Chocobo keep up with her.
"Any reason why you brought Stardust Shin? I think we can handle our flight on our own," Terra pointed out, fully aware that Shin was not "flight deficient".
"Flying's not a natural thing for me Terra, I didn't have the privilege to be born with the skies at my grasp," he poked, trying to make light of the situation. He instead got a royally deserved beak to the top of the head.
"If you want to trade, I don't mind," Terra said with a large humph to capitalize her position. "It's really more trouble than it's worth," she said as she flew ahead of the duo. Shin sighed at his failed attempt and looked at Stardust, the female Chocobo looking back with a look that simply asked him if he even expected that to work.
"Your mother's pretty hard to read Star, give me a break," Shin told the bird, heading to his destination in silence.
Soon after, the unmistakeable pillar in the desert appeared in the distance, airships from all over the worlds hovering towards it. A giant cactuar-shaped building held up all four domes of the Gold Saucer, each shining in their own coloured spectacle of lights. Only the one just by its left arm was opened to the outside, serving as the Aerodrome for the entire structure. It didn't hold any ship though, Setzer's ships would simply cycle in at certain times to pick up the people that wanted to leave. Regardless of it, the skies around the Saucer were navigation hell, the rush of the first day was as real as it could get. The fact that it was free for that day only just made it worse.
Weaving easily between the ships, Shin finally found Terra, hovering just above the entrance to the giant amusement park, hand over her chest and a not-so-hidden fear over her expression.
"Thanks for waiting Terra. Wouldn't be easy finding you in there," Shin said as she arrived by her.
"Shin I-" she began, already shaking her head. Shin would have none of it.
"Just try, alright? I'll hold your hand through it all," not this soon. He wouldn't have Terra live with anymore burdens. Once again, his voice pushed Terra just a tiny bit more in the direction he wished she'd take, and she accepted.
"Lead the way then," she told him, expecting Shin to know where to head in now.
He didn't.
"Well… I'm as new to this as you are so…" he began, scratching the back of his head. Terra took her hand to her face, cursing herself for expecting any more from her boyfriend. When it came to remembering the most mundane, he was worse than she was. With that being said, he was also surprisingly good at slithering out of bad situations. "Look, over there! Those are the Turks right? Let's just ask 'em!" before Terra could say anything more, Shin made a mad sprint to towards the group of men and women in black, in fact, Stardust was going so fast, that the landing was less than adequate. It was a miracle that she had been able to stop before running over the completely unaware Reno.
"And here I thought I was over the whole can die at any moment shtick!" Reno commented, legs still trembling from how close he was to reaching pancake status. Stardust was not a small Chocobo by any means, nor was it going anything close to slow. Her talons marks left a large line of destruction in her attempt to brake in time.
"Sorry about that Reno," Shin apologized, hopping off his mount as Terra landed beside him.
"Phew, someone is dressed to impress, huh?" Reno joked, patting Rude on the back as he laughed at his own joke. Pity no one else was laughing. Confused, he continued: "Well, not exactly dress, but you get what I-"
"I am sorry for my associate Miss Branford," Reno said, straightening his tie, picking up the now unconscious Reno and carrying him off. "I wish you two the best of stays,"
"Huh… Rude really came into his own," Shin told Terra, receiving no answer.
"You know, I don't think Reno was actually joking. He just has a really hard time with words. In a way, you do impress." Cissnei commented, taking the tickets from a couple as they passed into the Gold Saucer. "I know how trivial it is, but tickets please,"
"Wait, you Turks are taking… tickets?" Shin snorted, trying to hold back his laughter as much as he could. Cissnei was hardly affected, taking both of their tickets and marking them as used.
"Rufus has a lot of resources. Manpower is not one of them. If we want the world to be able to rest, we can't do it ourselves," Cissnei explained, going back to taking tickets from everyone else. "In any case, have fun you two. If anyone deserves it, it's both of you. Oh, and don't worry about your mount, Elena knows what to do with it," Cissnei said, shooting a snide wink at the duo. This confused Terra, however, she was aware that if the female Turk wanted to be cryptic, there was no way to get what she meant out of her.
"Well, shall we?" Shin said, prompting the two to head into the building. Terra, still unsure, hesitated.
"I think I'll take you up on that offer," a very familiar voice said from behind Terra. She turned, coming face to face with the new owner of the Gold Saucer.
"Setzer!" Terra exclaimed, giving him a quick hug. It was the first she had seen of him ever since she had moved to Mobliz.
"Now now Terra, your man doesn't deserve the game you are playing right now," Setzer joked, patting her on the head before turning towards Shin and giving the young man his hand to shake. "Would you mind a guide?"
"Why would we?" Shin replied, unaffected by Terra's show of affection. He was past it… for the most part.
"Then, I'll be the lead," the gambler suggested, taking the forefront. As they walked, Terra's hand never left Shin's, not only that, but the girl had shrunk into the back of her boyfriend, trying her best to avoid any eye-contact with any of the guests. Shin knew that if Terra continued on like this, their date would be a sour note in their relationship, and he couldn't let that happen.
"So, Setzer, how did you manage to get this ball rolling? Seems like a strange place to get Rufus to spend his money on. World was recently wrecked and all," Shin asked, trying to get a conversation flowing.
"Didn't Cissnei tell you?" Setzer asked, combing his flowing hair with his hand. "Our world needs to be rebuilt, yes, but the same way a tired pilot can never make his ship fly, we can't keep moving forward without the will or energy to do it,"
"You mean… the Saucer was made to get people some reprieve?" Terra asked, finally leaving her boyfriend's shadow.
"While we may be at peace right now, I don't think it's easy to forget what the world went through. Rufus thought the same. He offered me his resources if I offered him my… experience with casinos. Of course, he forced me to cut on the gambling, at least until the world's back on its feet, but the pleasure is in the game, not the earnings. Not much of value was lost," Setzer answered, stopping to pick up a map from a passing attendant. "We are here, at the centre of the Saucer. We haven't had the time to make much more than this, so, for now, the map should take you anywhere you wish. If you are heading for the Chocobo Stadium however, there is the elevator," the owner of the Saucer told them, giving Terra the scroll. "I would give you a personal tour, but that would defeat the purpose of a date, wouldn't you agree?"
"I… well… yes…" Terra gagged, her cheeks lighting beneath her violet fur.
"Good. Remember you two, for today only, your lives are but a chip in the pile. Ante up!" the gambler said, vanishing into the crowd.
Not wanting to lose momentum, Shin took the map, gave it a good look around, and told Terra:
"Let's get to the counter and get some GGP first. Then we can decide where to use it at, alright?" he asked Terra, slightly amused that Setzer really had put his first name so ingrained on the new gold saucer that Gold Saucer Points had become Gabbiani Gold Saucer Points.
The two headed towards the counter, where they encountered a… familiar face.
"Afternoon Ultros," Terra said with a smile at the octopus just as he finished talking to another customer. "Coliseum can't pay for the bills?" The octopus nearly jumped from the counter once he came face to face with Terra.
"I-I've done nothing wrong! Don't roast me, please!" he pleaded, his eyes filled with fear as he remembered the last time Terra tranced in front of him.
"Don't worry Ultros, I didn't come here looking like this by choice," Terra said, not-so-subtle giggling at the octopus' response. She didn't really blame him for being afraid, she had been a bit too harsh on the guy last time they fought.
"Oh…I see. Then I must refuse Terra," Ultros replied, turning its back on the couple and crossing his multiple tentacles. The two just sat in silence, confused. "I cannot allow myself to be seduced by you, not with your boytoy around. I have some standards!"
"Then why is your back tentacle creeping on her ankle already?" Shin asked, his eye twitching. He didn't want to make a scene, but the mollusc was asking for it.
"Look, I'm sorry! But your girlfriend just showed up in front of me butt na-"it was by this time that Terra finally remembered why she had been harsh to Ultros in the first place. She proceeded to unceremoniously set every tentacle in her vicinity on fire. "Ow, ow, ow! I'm too young to be a gourmet dish!" Ultros cried, rushing from counter into a nearby fountain.
"Our GGP Ultros, please," Terra said with the fakest smile she could muster. It was honestly more terrifying for Ultros to see those fangs bearing down on him in a smile than a scowl. That meant she was this close to snapping.
"Geez woman, talk about mixed messages… it's on the drawer… take whatever you want, see if I care!" Ultros shouted, submerging, no doubt readying himself to creep on more women.
"Welp, this should last us for the day," Shin said, pulling out a bag not that much larger than the usual customers picked up. He had some pride after all. Taking Terra's hand, the two started their journey through the Gold Saucer.
The closest attraction was the Triple Triad Square, a hobby that both of them had picked up recently as a way to relax with a quick game before going back to work. With this in consideration, Terra and Shin agreed on heading there first.
Once they arrived, they took a moment to take in the amount of tables and people playing that there were. It was a daunting prospect that all of this had been rebuilt in a mere month. Shin could even spot a few familiar faces. However, something else took his attention. Terra's grip had slowly tightened while they walked through the glamorous hallways.
"Something the matter princess?" he asked her gently. He noticed her gaze was on the floor once again. Looking around, he understood why.
"Everyone is staring Shin. I can live with crowds but…" Terra began, shaking her head and pursing her lips. Shin began to doubt this had been a good idea, but he was in too deep to not give it the good ol' college try.
"Like it or not Terra, we're kinda famous. It's no wonder people stop to take a look," Shin retorted, giving the evil eye to the people staring, which caused them to slightly disperse.
"They aren't looking at us Shin. They are staring. At me," Terra told him, staring him right in the eyes. "I'm not gullible Shin, we've been over this," truth be told, Shin was always taken aback by how sharp Terra would be in deducing anyone's lies or attempts to diverge a conversation. It was probably due to her childhood, but it didn't feel in character for someone as sweet at her.
"Alright, alright, it's true. But you can't just assume they are thinking bad things about you. You saved the world twice, and this is a rare side of you. I'd stare too!" Shin exclaimed, smiling as he pointed at himself in the goofiest way possible. A small smile cracked on Terra's expression, the Esper girl slowly nodding.
"I suppose. I'm still not that comfortable though," she explained. A small silence settled between the two, just enough to bury the conversation. As soon as Shin turned to walk though, he saw something in the distance.
"Terra, just take a seat, play some games, I don't know. I'll be right back!" he blared, already halfway across the room. Terra reached out to him at first, but then proceeded to sigh.
"That was really insensitive Shin…" she muttered under breath, a bit hurt. What could possibly demand this much attention of him? "I wonder if I should play some Triad," she looked onto an empty table, took a step in its direction, then she remembered. Looking at her clawed hand, she shook her head, heading to a nearby bench. She sat there for a few minutes, absentmindedly looking through her Triple Triad collection, for the first time truly considering just casting Teleport and leaving, the feeling of being stared at had not diminished in the slightest.
That is, until she saw a pair of feet came into her field of view. She looked up, and saw a little boy holding a stack of cards, staring up at her with the most innocent look she had gotten from a stranger ever since she landed on Mobliz.
"You're Terra, aren't you?" he asked her with a smile. The woman in question smiled back out of instinct, her motherly side shining through.
"Yes I am… something the matter?" she asked him, estranged about why the child had approached her.
"Can I pleaaaaase play a game with you? You don't look too busy!" he asked, holding up his deck towards her. Terra just couldn't say no to those eyes. She nodded back, took his hand and headed towards a nearby empty table.
During the ensuing duel, all of Terra's worries mellowed out. For the first time since she had gotten here, her gaze was not meeting anyone else's, it was just her, her cards, and the boy in front of her. Truth be told, if she had tried to, she'd have been able to read into his hand every time he tried to make a play, he was just so brimming with energy. There was something magical about the simplicity of him, of this entire game.
It didn't matter to her whether she lost or won the multiple times the two had played each other, the very fact that a complete stranger had come to her and asked something as simple as to play a card game with her in her current state, without any concerns other than the game, it was the kind of pleasure she had only dreamed of. She hated to admit it, but Shin leaving her stranded had done much more good than bad.
"Aha, what about now Miss?!" the boy exclaimed after amassing an impressive board. His cards were 6 to Terra's one. However, the boy had dug its own grave. Terra smiled as she plopped down a card picturing her own father.
"Papa's card captures your top and right cards to flip, and since we're playing Combo and those were your strongest cards… I flip the whole board!" she exclaimed, only then realized just how into it she had become.
"Wow miss… I didn't expect you to be such a pro!" the boy exclaimed heartily, picking up his cards from the table.
"It's just practice, me and my boyfriend play this on lunch breaks between construction," she explained. Moments later, a middle aged woman rushed to the table.
"Tyro! I've been looking everywhere for you!" she exclaimed, hugging what Terra could only imagine being her child. The mother then looked at Terra with a look of shock, that would have hurt Terra, if the woman had not bowed immediately afterwards. "I apologize deeply for the inconvenience Miss Branford. We're from Figaro and we know what you've done, you shouldn't have had to-"
"Your son did something very special for me. Don't apologize," Terra said, walking up to the woman and gently pushing her up into a standing position. She looked at the woman in the eye. She was clearly unnerved, and while Terra didn't know if it was because of what had happened, her identity, or her form, it for some reason didn't matter to her. The woman had been sincere to her, that was all she needed to know.
"I don't really understand what happened, but I had a lot of fun today miss!" the boy exclaimed. Terra smiled back at him, knelt down and hugged him gently.
"I had a lot of fun too Tyro. If you ever pass by Mobliz, don't forget to pay a visit," she told him, patting him on the head before leaving the kid to go back to his parents, who waved back at her warmly, their expressions now calmer after interacting with Terra.
"You're as popular as ever with the kids, aren't you?" Shin's said, his voice coming from behind Terra.
"Wish I was half as liked by my boyfriend. Maybe then I wouldn't have to resort to little kids to take my head of problems," Terra replied, crossing her arms and not even turning towards Shin. The nervous laugh from Shin at least showed he knew he had screwed up.
"Look, Terra, I know it was a bit sudden but there was just one last spot to sign in and I wanted this to be somewhat of a surprise…" he explained, gaining her attention. She turned to meet him and was immediately flooded by a sentiment she could not resist. She squealed and hugged the large doll Shin was presenting her with.
"A Stilkzin plush? How did you come by one of these?!" she asked, giggling like a little girl as she caressed the rare moogle plush.
"They were being offered to the winner of a Triple Triad tournament here, it was a small one, only had eight players, so I thought it'd be worth a shot. I left you behind mostly because I wanted to see this face," he told her, poking her on her cheeks. Terra had already forgiven him, he could see it in her expression. He wondered if his gambit was paying off already. "What were you doing to pass the time?" he asked her.
"Well…" Terra explained the past half an hour to Shin, who could not be happier at the result of it all.
"See Terra, people's attitude towards you is the same, regardless of how you look!" he exclaimed, passing his hand through Terra's flowing Esper fur, just as she loved it.
"I wouldn't say that but… there are still people that accept me, that's for sure. More than the ones I expected," Terra conceded, calmly stroking her new doll. The moment was interrupted by a strange occurrence.
"How could I lose at Triple Triad?! It's the one thing I can do well not related to smashing!" the echoing cries of Zell echoed through the halls.
"Shut up Zell you're embarrassing us…" Squall said, begrudgingly pushing his friend out of the Triple Triad wing before trading looks with Terra. He raised his hand in acknowledgment at girl. "See you two at the races," he told them before being forced to push the bawling grown up man along.
"Well…that was strange. I take it he was in the tournament?" Terra asked Shin, receiving a nod back.
"He was my last opponent. Think he wanted to impress some girl or something," Shin dismissed, Terra laughing it out, pulling him down by the shoulder and whispering to his ear.
"You're not much better…" she said, skipping along forward, leaving a fumbling Shin behind.
"At least I'm good at it!" he exclaimed, running to catch up to her.
"Debatable…" she teased, stopping at the edge of the Triple Triad Square. "Where to now? The Chocobo Racing Square?" she asked Shin. She wasn't daft, Shin had the half-annoying half-sweet tendency to prepare surprises for her, and Squall had just spilled the beans on something, even if she didn't know exactly what it was.
"Yup, got a couple of tickets for both of us already. We still have an hour until the race, but we should get ready anyway!" Shin replied, grabbing onto her free hand and walking by her side.
Terra sighed to herself at how Shin didn't take the hint of "just tell me already", but it was a Shin thing, and she appreciated it, in retrospective at least. She decided to just wait it out and enjoy the moment there. This time around, as they walked, she felt no need to run or hide behind Shin, even though she was the target of as many, or more, stares than before. Holding hands with the person she loved worked in her favour, but the meeting with Tyro had reminded her that not all of those stares were malevolent.
With that being said, her body still didn't budge, she could not morph back. She still felt far away from that state of complete calm and acceptance she needed to offset a forced transformation. Some of them had lasted for days, weeks even if we count her first one. She knew the reason. Her unrest was still dwindling inside of her. Every once in awhile, she spotted it. A stare of pure disgust or hatred. She didn't know how to cope with that.
After a few minutes of walking and a ride up the giant Cactuar through the elevator, they emerged at the stadium dome. Terra was shocked at the scale of it all. She had known that Chocobo Racing had always been the main attraction of the saucer, but the stadium they were walking towards was easily the size of Dragon's Neck Coliseum. The technology of the other worlds still baffled her time to time, to make such a huge structure stand so high.
Her first hint at what was about to happen came with where Shin began taking her. They passed by the ticket sellers, which she thought it was fine, he had probably gotten the tickets already, but, they passed by the line to enter the Stadium too.
"Did you get us some VIP tickets?" Terra questioned, that being the one thing she thought Shin had done. He smiled at her, that devilish smile that he shot at her every time he was so smug about what he had prepared for her.
"Something of the sort," he told her as they reached another entrance.
"Miss Branford and Sir Verus I presume?" the clerk questioned, Terra and Shin nodding in return, showing her their tickets. "You may go in. You will find your Chocobo at the end of the tunnel, after the changing room where you may want to change clothing. We appreciate you taking the time to be here for our opening celebration," the clerk told them letting them inside.
"Chocobo? Shin, you did not…" Terra told her boyfriend.
"Terra! Didn't expect to see you here!" another voice called, the duo turned to see Bartz running towards them, waving frantically.
"Honestly Bartz, I didn't expect to see me here either. You're participating in the opening race, right?" she asked the Wanderer, receiving a swift nod.
"Of course. Lenna's already inside tending to Boko, I just needed a drink. Which of the two of you is the jock?" he asked, looking at Terra for an answer she did not have.
"She is, I'm just there to prepare Stardust for the race," he told her, dodging a claw he knew was coming for him right after.
"You should've warned me about this!" Terra hissed, stalking towards backpedalling Shin.
"You'd never have come if I had told you about it at home!" he exclaimed, jumping over a Firaga spell that went on to hit Zell in the background.
"That's not an excuse! What makes you think I'm in the mindset to participate in a Chocobo Race in front of thousands?!" she blared, anger welling up inside of her again. Was Shin this disconnected from her feelings? First the abandonment, now this.
"Terra, please, I asked you to trust me…" Shin staggered, trying to stand his ground even in the face of certain disgrace.
"Shin, no! You can't just ask me to do this. I could barely walk into the Saucer today," she told him. She had had enough with this. She had a breaking point, Shin had just jumped over it and asked her to come with him.
"Alright," she did a double take and looked at Shin, wondering if she heard it well. "I understand where you're coming from Terra. I underestimated how much this bothered you. If you are so affected by the idea, I'll do the race for you. It's why I got us both tickets," he told her, waving his tickets at her. "Oh and Terra… sorry for doing this on our date," he told her after walking past her, going into the tunnel and leaving her behind.
"Terra, he's just trying to help you," Bartz explained, trying to mend the bridge that he had just seen breaking apart.
"I know Bartz. I just can't do it," she told him, following in Shin's tracks.
By the time she had reached the changing room, she was just in time to see Shin exit for the stables. With no strength to face him, she found the closest seat and took it.
She quietly reflected about what had just happened. It was clear Shin was trying to tell her something. Something more poignant than that she was accepted by some people. For the life of her though, she had no idea what. What would lead him to set this all up?
"Pardon me, are you Terra Branford?" a voice she did not recognize asked. She raised her head to find what could only be someone from Zidane's world. For a moment, she gave the person in front of her the look she so hated to receive, seeing an anthropomorphic giant rat dressed in red was strange, even on her standards. She quickly corrected her stance, nodding back at the woman. "Finally I have found you. Zidane just would not stop to speak of you. Where are my manners though? My name is Freya, Freya Crescent," she told Terra, extending her hand. Terra took it and shook it, taking note of just how similar her hand was to Freya's. Maybe she could help her.
"If you don't mind me asking, why were you looking for me?" she asked the Burmecian. The dragoon smiled and took a small bow.
"Why, to thank you of course. It always pained me to be unable to be of any help for most of your conflicts. For saving our worlds, you have my deepest gratitude," she told Terra, who could see it in her eyes that a massive load had been removed from her shoulders. She knew the pain of staying behind and having friends fight your battles for you, she had done so once for her kids, even if she decided to join in later.
"While I wouldn't ask this of you, I appreciate the thought. Don't martyr yourself for it," she told her, knowing that Freya needed was acknowledgement, not some humble act from Terra.
"That means a lot to me. With that being said, it is easy for me to see that something troubles you. Is there anything I may do to help?" the dragoon questioned, having read through Terra as a book. "Before you ask, Zidane tries to bottle up his problems a lot too. I've become accustomed to force them out,"
"How do you deal with the… looks?" Terra questioned after a few moments of pondering whether she could or not. Freya raised an eyebrow, trying to make sense of why Terra would ask that. "I… I can't morph back from Trance," Terra explained.
"Ah, that would be an issue. Truth be told, I am not the best person to ask this, as in our world, there was no such thing as a strange look, your normal looks were our closest thing to strange. With that being said, I can't say I have not gotten some estranged and somewhat hateful looks ever since the dawn of this new one," Freya said, passing her hand through the lower part of her snout in a pensive way. "If I had any advice for you Terra, is that you should take things as they come. The more you overthink what those gazes mean, the more they will consume you. Given time, they are likely to vanish, especially taking in consideration the fact that a world like mine's is now a part of this planet,"
Just then, the voice of the announcer began called out Freya's name.
"Oh, I apologize, but I have to present my Chocobo for inspection. I hope this will not be our last meeting. I wish you the very best Terra," she said, quickly shuffling through the door and jumping the moment she left the room.
"Not overthink it… that's an easy thing to say," Terra commented, staring at a nearby mirror. It wasn't just how she looked…
"Tell me about it," Cloud's voice echoed through the changing room. Terra looked to the side and saw the now actual SOLDIER leave from a nearby cubicle on his bike riding gear.
"You were listening?" Terra questioned, the Chocobo headed person shrugging immediately in response.
"Casually overheard it," he replied while he polished his goggles. "Was just getting ready for the race. I see your date isn't going as well as planned,"
"How do you know all of this?" Terra asked again. She didn't want to believe Shin had gone so low as to send someone else to do the talking, but she had to ask.
"Just assumed. Saw you two pass by in the distance once or twice," he explained, finally looking at Terra in the eyes. "I know how you feel,"
"Everyone assumes that. So far, all those have been are empty promises," the Half-Esper snapped back, frustration heavy in her voice. She was tired of the false promise of someone who understood her plight. "Even Shin doesn't understand how I feel right now. I'm-"
"It's not about how you look Terra. I know that, Shin knows that, and I'm pretty sure it's probably dawned on you too," Cloud pointed out, relentlessly cutting off any try Terra had at disposing of it. "Your trance's looks only brings attention to what you are truly afraid people will not understand. Or worse to the things you are afraid they won't forgive,"
"I-I… that's true," Terra replied, shaking her head and looking back at her clawed hands. She subconsciously had blamed her looks for her stress, but that had been simply a distraction for much worse issues she had with the world around her. "People like Freya look different too, but none of them are… alone. I am an anomaly, an anomaly with the blood of millions on her hands,"
"That's why you avoid crowds in general. I've been there. There was a reason why I isolated myself from the world after stopping Meteor," Cloud replied, raising the arm where he once held Geostigma. "I had my own brand back in that time. Being what looked like a former SOLDIER didn't make things any better, what with Shinra's reputation and all," Terra slowly nodded in return. "Now that you believe me, here's my words of advice. First, let people help you. Shin was a mess when he passed by the changing room. Chances are, considering you're here, he tried to get you into the race, right?"
"How do you know?" Terra asked.
"Would you have gotten over a fight over anything else?" he pointed out. She knew he made a good point. "Second. Everyone has enemies Terra. Don't ever expect everyone to accept you or like you. Bartz has some enemies in the Tycoon nobility now that he's engaged to Lenna. Bartz. The most normal and amicable guy in our group. People give you the evil eye more than they do to others because they know about you, that simple,"
"I know, but it's still hard for me to disconnect from that. What if they do something to my children? Or to the people I love? I can't shake those feelings off every time I feel one of those stares… how do you do it Cloud?" she asked her friend from another world. A rare occurrence followed. Cloud… smiled. As Terra was taken aback by it, Cloud slipped on his riding googles, his name being called by the announcer.
"I got over myself," he replied, leaving the Narshean Princess confounded. "Somethings you just can't teach. If you want to know how I handle it, give your boyfriend another shot," he told her, heading for the entrance. Opening the door, he stole one last look of Terra, leaving her with just a couple more words. "See you on the track,"
"Getting over oneself… I am not full of myself, am I?" Terra asked herself, looking at the mirror one more time. "I don't understand what they want of me… but I can't continue ignoring everyone's advice! I trust them," Biting her tongue, she felt herself being filled with determination. Shin had put their relationship on the line by asking her to do this race. She had come to terms with it. The least she could do is honour his request.
She opened the door and made her way through the stables. She didn't know if her name had been called already, or if Shin had, but it didn't matter. No more doubts. She was going to see this through. She was tired of crying in a corner, if there was a light at the end of the tunnel, she was going to find it. She found her boyfriend talking to the announcer, likely explaining the switch, a stroke of good luck at least.
"Shin, leave it be," she told him, the half-dragon young man turning to see a face that incited relief on his broken down expression. "I was being an idiot. I'll go through with it,"
"Well, we'll have to kiss and make up later then… cause you're up," Shin told her, seeing as the announcer had taken this as a sign that Terra was up and ready to go. Terra took the time she had to give Shin a quick, but powerful hug, whispering how sorry she was onto his ear. Flying past all the contestants, she landed on her favourite Chocobo, being greeted heartily. She was… nervous to say the least.
"Good thing you came," Bartz told her from the side, smiling at her. "Always wanted to see how Boko would fare against that crazy bird!" seeing she was flanked by Cloud and Bartz made her feel slightly better. Friends always did.
"Let's go Stardust. There's something I need to find out," she told her bird. The countdown to the race's beginning began ticking down. Her heart beat more than twice per number. Fear crept up her back, only to be held back by a single look she took of Shin. Before she knew it, the gong had been rang.
Stardust erupted from the start of the lane, blitzing past every bird but Boko. Cloud's black Fenrir tailing them from the side. But that was not what Terra was worried about. As she looked around, she gazed into the roaring crowd, and then, it dawned.
To them, she was just one of the racers. On that moment, sure, she may have some more eyes on her by her looks or relevance, but she was no different from the other racers. It was with this feeling, this liberating feeling of insignificance, that she understood what Cloud meant. What Shin had been trying to teach her.
At that moment, she was a raindrop falling into the ocean.
The race had long finished. Terra sat in a bench, drinking a refrigerated drink to quench the thirst she had accumulated through the day, only enhanced by the dirt kicked up by the Chocobo. She was satisfied with the results. She was not in there for the win, she had gained something far more important.
Shin approached her bench, a piece of grilled corn in each of his hands. Sitting by her side, he handed her the treat, which Terra happily took. The couple then exchanged a pair of estranged gazes, both wanting to tell something to the other, but none of them working up the guts to do it first. Terra took a single bite of the corn.
"Shin, I have a lot to apologize for… I should have trusted you more," she told her boyfriend, slowly inching towards him.
"And I should've been more honest about what I was trying to do…" Shin replied, putting his hand over Terra's free hand. "I didn't know what to do… so I avoided confronting you until the last moment. It wouldn't have gone so badly if I had come clean from the beginning," Shin admitted, squeezing Terra's hand.
"That may be true… but I don't want you to beat yourself over it. What we're going through is not something simple. I think we should allow ourselves to make mistakes," the pink haired girl told him. "I finally understood what you wanted me to learn though. It's unreasonable of me to think I'll ever be accepted by everyone, but it's just as bad to think that means I am out of place in the world. The war is over. We're not on the vanguard of the world. We're specks of sand in a beach. Maybe we're of a different colour… but we're part of a whole now,"
"I'm glad you understood that. We are so used to thinking about the entire world, that it's hard to go back and simply live our own lives. Just let the days pass by, and be yourself. If that makes you happy, if that gives you a home to return to and if you keep being an honest, good person, I think things will sort themselves out," Shin said, having already lived through this very same crisis not long ago. "It's like Setzer said, ironically,"
"We're but chips in the pile," Terra said, looking at the Gold Saucer in a new light. What first felt like a prison, where all would stare at her, judge her, was now a large wonderland where everyone was doing their best to forget the tragedies of the past. Something she desperately needed to do. "Shin… allow me to ante-up,"
Shin turned his head, ready to ask Terra what she had meant, when a pair of gentle hands pulled him in into a long, passionate kiss. He was shocked, it was uncharacteristic of Terra to show this much affection in front of so many people, but he couldn't help but reciprocate the moment with her. It did not last long, but Shin could feel all the gratefulness of the girl he loved through that kiss, just as she had felt the effort he had tried to hide from her.
"For all your flaws, I can't help but adore how much you try to make things the best for everyone else…" Terra whispered in his ear moments after breaking the kiss. It was then when Shin's eyes opened, that he was greeted not with the violet Esper, but with the blonde petite woman he spent most of his days with.
"Terra, you're… back to normal!" he exclaimed, pulling her into a hug out of sheer joy. Terra smiled, even chuckled, as she explained:
"I've been ready to turn back ever since the race… but I wanted to do it at just the right time," she told him, caressing his cheek. "It was worth it, if only to see your face,"
They stayed in there for a few more minutes, before they felt like they were being a bit too melodramatic in public. It didn't affect Terra half as much as before, however, there'd be time for lovey dovey things at home.
"Well then, princess, shall we actually go out on a date?" Shin asked, taking the first step by getting up from the bench.
"Alright, but, this time, I take the lead," Terra said, winking as she waved the map of the Saucer she had snatched from Shin. Said boyfriend could only nod as his girl decided on how they would spend the rest of their day together.
It was a rather uneventful afternoon after that, which for all effects and purposes only made it better for the couple. Nothing made Terra more ecstatic than small things like actually waiting in line like a normal person, be one of many couples trying their luck at escaping Typhon's Snorts in a hilariously over the top game of red light green light, climbing all the way to the top of the Wonder Square's GATE, even the surprised faces on the kids that saw a girl they knew nothing about destroy the Gilgamesh power hitting attracting on accident. For the latter half, they even got together with her old friends that were in the race for a good Triple Triad friendly bash, neither Terra or Shin were victorious, but seeing Lenna of all people trump everyone was enough to put a grin on everyone's faces.
Eventually, the time for closing was upon them, with the Saucer closing its doors for the next month, to open again for another day of relaxation from the hardships of the new world. While Terra and Shin knew the next day would be back to the usual order of business, they reached their home with a smile on their cheeks, a new picture of everyone that they met on the Gold Saucer posing with them as the centrepiece, much to Terra's embarrassment, and just a few pained muscles.
"Aren't the kids home at all?" Terra asked, once she got her heels out of her feet, noticing how the house was eerily quiet.
"I arranged for them to stay at Celes for the night," Shin replied as he headed down to the dining room, Terra following suite.
"Thank Lenneth… I love them all, but I need a break from them every once in awhile," Terra said, stretching her limbs while pecking Shin's cheek. "You really are a treat to live with when you want to be,"
"What do you mean, when you want to be?!"
"You're lazy and more prone to disaster than everyone in the house combined. As cute as I find your attempts at fixing what you do sometimes, you're usually more trouble than you're worth," Terra said, being fully aware she had just pressed all of Shin's buttons.
"Alright, you stay here, I'm going to make it up to you!" Shin exclaimed, directing himself to the kitchen.
"Oh no you don't. After what you did today, I'm not leaving you to cook up another crazy plan. What are we doing today?!" she asked, forcing herself onto Shin's personal space and winking. She had seldom felt this free, and she'd be lying if she didn't enjoy every bit of it.
"I was going to bake you a cake," Shin admitted, already having taken a dozen of eggs from their refrigerator, one of the few pieces of technology allowed in Mobliz during reconstruction. Moments later, he only heard:
"Catch!" as the flour bag hit him straight in the face.
"What was that for Terra?" he asked, half-outraged half confused. What he saw, was something that if he was told he'd ever see a year ago, he'd have laughed. Terra with a grin that couldn't even be fully described as naughty, already ready with another round of flour.
"C'mon Shin, keep up! My kitchen, my rules!" she exclaimed, throwing it at her boyfriend. Shin managed to do so, taking time to throw Terra his eggs in the process. Terra managed to grab four of the six, but the last two landed straight on her chest and loosened blonde hair. "Oh, that's how you want to do things?"
"You're the one that started it. Better be able to take what you can dish out," and with that, they tried to get to their own, demented version of a baking session. They both knew it wasn't going to work out, but every time Shin felt a giant geyser of water course down his face because he had asked a mage for a bit of water, every time Terra got dough pasted all over her face for asking Shin to throw her the dough, which he responded in a literal sense, more and more of their pent up stress would vanish to the winds.
The normal collected Terra and the amicable and lazy Shin were gone. They were alone, and they were free. By the time they stopped indulging in the chaos of their own making, the kitchen was completely impossible to recognize… and so were each other.
"We… really did it now…" Shin said, still heaving from the impromptu food fight he had just shared with his lover.
"I… didn't think I had it in me… but I feel so much better now," Terra replied, beaming Shin a smile like no other she had done before.
"I don't know what looks like more of a mess. The kitchen, or us," Shin mused, looking at a mirror to try and find out where his face began and where the dough covering ended.
"I look like a mess Shin? I thought you said you loved how I looked… no matter how much I changed," Shin heard Terra purr, in ways he never expected her to, but then again, that seemed to be the treat of the day. He saw Terra approaching from behind him on the mirror, her form slowly regaining the pink coloration of her Esper form. Soon, just as she lay her head on his shoulder, she said: "Care to put that to the test?" she asked, flipping him to face her before tackling him to the ground in a heart stopping kiss. Neither of them had a clue of what had lead them to act like this, but neither of the two cared.
For the rest of the evening, they were each other's.
Post-Chapter Note: So yeah, this was supposed to be a small date chapter. It evolved into a somewhat of a character study with fluffy interactions through it. I have no idea how the ending came about though. Terra has this inherent wild side to her hidden beneath that properness and shyness that I just cannot control. And it is glorious. Cogratulations Terra, you don't even exist, but you forced me to alter an ending to something I never expected coming from you. And I'll be damned if it wasn't fun!
I'll see you on my next serious project. "Vacation" time is over!