CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Bodhum Bound

Two months later…

oOo

"Cloud!" Elmyra declared happily upon answering the door.

"Hi, Mrs. G.," he said with a half smile. "How have you been?"

"Just fine, thank you!… Well, don't just stand there. Come in! I was just about to take some cooking out of the oven."

Cloud stepped inside and sat down at the kitchen table, and Elmyra came back out with a plate full of chocolate chip cookies. "Please, help yourself."

"No thank you," he said. "I've gotta save my appetite for cake. It's Denzel's birthday."

"Oh, how exciting! How old is he?"

"Thirteen."

"Wow. That old already?" She pulled her seat over to sit closer to him. "I heard from Barret that you moved all the way to Rocket Town," she said, making light conversation.

"Yeah, I did," he replied. "Actually, I'm still living there. But only for a short while."

"Really? Where are you planning to move next?"

He sighed. "Well, I'm hoping to move in with Lightning." If I can find her, that is.

Elmyra grinned. "Oh… You two are that serious, huh?"

"We were, but… You know, it's too long a story. Anyway, I felt I owed you a visit while I was in town." His gaze drifted to the pictures on the shelves. Most of them were of Aerith when she was younger. "That, and a few weeks ago was the anniversary of when… Meteor happened."

Elmrya gently took his hand. "Cloud," she said softly, although he wouldn't look at her. "you have to stop blaming yourself. Aerith's death was not your fault."

"But it was no accident, either. I couldn't prevented it." He hung his head in shame.

Elmyra shook her head insistently. "No," she said. "You forget that I knew her very well, and I think she probably knew that she would join the Lifestream sooner than most. Thus is the life of an Ancient… You know, I raised her up from the time she was seven years-old. And since then, not a day went by when I didn't see her smile."

Cloud chuckled, facing her again. "Same here. Even when the world was falling down around us, she always found a reason to smile."

"And she'd want you to do the same," Elmyra pointed out. "Which brings me to the subject of my next question: Why are you really here?"

He blinked, surprised. "How did you guess?"

"I've been around a long time, Cloud. I know these things… What's on your mind?"

He began with a deep breath, then spoke. "Lighting quit her job with us shortly before I moved away, and we kind of lost touch. That wasn't necessarily something we wanted, but it just sort of happened… for reasons I don't care to explain."

Elmyra nodded. "That's fine… Continue."

"Well, I've been looking for her so that we can kind of… get back together and stuff."

"Mm-hmm."

"And I know she had dinner here once…"

"Correct."

"So… I was wondering if maybe she'd mentioned anything about where she lived?" The more he talked, the more his face flushed. As he stared face-to-face with Elmyra-Aerith's mother-he suddenly realized how different this moment might be… That is, if things had turned out differently four years ago; he could be sitting here asking for Aerith's hand in marriage rather than about some other girl. But life had thrown him a curve ball in this case, and nothing could be done to change that.

But Elmyra wasn't offended. Instead, she rested her elbows on the table and thoughtfully laced her fingers together. "Let's see… Well, I can't quite remember what I cooked for her, but I know that she cleaned her plate pretty well. We made a some conversation and-" Her eyes brightened. "Oh! She mentioned that she was from somewhere on Cocoon."

"I figured that much," Cloud said. "She was with the Guardian Corps."

Elmyra's jaw dropped. "What she! Funny, she didn't look all that muscular." Then she laughed. "No wonder you're looking for her. The woman's perfect for you!"

Cloud looked away so that she wouldn't see him blush again. No, Lightning wasn't muscular, but she certainly was attractive. And yes, he felt that they made a pretty good team-and an even better match.

He remained quiet while Elmyra submerged herself in serious thought. Then, finally, she snapped her fingers. "Ah-hah! Now I remember!" she declared. "She said she was from a place called Bodhum."

Cloud's stomach began to flutter with excitement. "Are you sure?" he asked, eyes wide and lips parted. Even his breathing sounded shaky now.

"Posative," she confirmed with a nod. "I remember because off how surprised I was when she told me. I asked, 'What brings you to Midgar?' And she said, 'Life.'"

Cloud laughed, more for joyous reasons than humor. "That sounds like something she'd say."

After a brief pause, Elmyra squared her shoulders and grinned. "Well, what are you sitting around here for? Go find her, young man!"

"Yes, ma'am!" he said with a laugh before standing up and heading for the door. "Thanks, Elmyra. You have no idea how much you've helped me just now."

"Wait! Not yet!"

He paused with his hand on the doorknob and looked back over his shoulder. Had she forgotten to mention something else that was important?

No. She only scurried into the kitchen, came back out with a plastic bag, and dumped the plate of cookies into it. "Give these cookies to Denzel for his birthday," she instructed him. "And tell him not to eat too many at a time, or he'll get a stomach ache."

Cloud smiled as he took the bag from her. "I will."

Elmyra gave him a one-armed hug, to which he returned. "Thanks for dropping by, Cloud. And don't be a stranger, for Gaia's sake! Come by anytime you feel like it."

"I will."

"Good," she stated. "Now go, or you'll be late for Denzel's party!"

"Okay!" Cloud laughed.

After leaving the house, he got back on his bike and began his slow drive down the dirt road. At last, he'd found the lead he'd been looking for, and repeated it over and over in his mind so that he wouldn't forget. Claire Farron… Bodhum, Cocoon. He'd be on his way there as soon as possible.

But first, he had some other priorities to tend to. There was a piece of cake with his name on it, and after that, he needed to do some pretty expensive shopping.

He laughed at himself. For once, he was thinking like Aerith.