Ok, everyone is going to hate me for this: this is a filler chapter. I kinda wanted to explain Jessie and Cloud's connection, so uh...here it is.
Disclaimer I'v told you 10 times.
"Mommy, can you put my hair up like yours?" Jessie Rose asked, bouncing up and down on her toes.
The seven-year-old held a red ribbon in her hand. She wore a blue button up shirt and thin khaki pants, saying she wanted to look "smart" for her first day of first grade.
"Of course darling, come here." Jessie stood in front of her mother as she pulled the little girl's hair into a high ponytail.
Once she was done, she handed Jessie her lunch box and sent her to school.
"I love you!" her mother called off the front porch.
"I love you too!" Jessie walked happily down the sidewalk to the school that was only a block away.
Jessie was a very shy girl, so she preferred to go through the back door so she wouldn't be noticed.
She came to the corner was about to walk around it when she saw a little boy and his mother. She had her back to Jessie and the boy seemed to distraught to notice her.
The boy had spiky blonde hair, dark clothes and beautiful blue eyes. Jessie was mesmerized by the boy's appearance, so she pulled herself back and listened to her conversation.
"But Mommy, what if the kids don't like me?" the boy whimpered.
"Cloud, don't worry. Everybody likes you. You'll be fine." his mother tried to reassure him.
"What if they make fun of my hair?" he reached up and tugged on one of his spikes.
"O-Or my name?"
Cloud's mother knelt in front of him and put her hands on his shoulders.
"Cloud, you are a sweet and wonderful boy. You will have so many friends you won't know what to do! So stop worrying, it'll be alright."
"Promise?" he held out his pinky.
"Promise." his mother wrapped her little finger around his.
She kissed him on the head and walked away.
The boy pushed the door open and walked nervously inside.
Jessie darted in after him and took a seat on the big blue carpet in the middle of the room, which was supposed to look like an ocean.
All Jessie's friends from kindergarden were already sitting there, chatting happily.
Squall Leonhart and Seifer Almasy got into a fight the second they laid eyes on each other. The teacher put them on either side of Jessie.
"Ok class, quiet down!" the teacher called. Seifer reached across Jessie and flicked Squall hard in the head. Squall turned and threw his pencil case at Seifer.
"Boys if you don't stop that, I will put you in the corner!" the teacher threatened.
The two rolled their eyes in unison, the effect of time-out having worn away in preschool.
"We have a new student today! His name is Cloud Strife and he-oh where is he?" the teacher began looking around, trying to find the lost boy.
The children returned to talking to each other, Squall and Seifer returned to trying to kill each other (no surprise there). Jessie got up and snuck to the back door. She carefully opened it and slipped outside.
Cloud was sitting on the steps that lead to the concrete landing on which the door rested. The little boy was crying and rubbing his eyes.
Jessie walked over and sat next to him.
"What's wrong?" she asked. Cloud looked over at her and sniffed.
"A-all the k-kids are gon-nna m-make f-fun-n of m-me-e. A-and I w-won't h-have a-n-ny fr-riends." he sobbed.
"No they won't," Jesse said "The kids in there are even weirder than you!"
Cloud's crying lessened "Th-they are?"
Jessie nodded "Uh huh. You think your hair's funny? Well Claire has pink hair! And Fuujin has crazy red eyes. And Tidus carries a blitzball wherever he goes!"
A/N That's the slightly older Tidus from FF, not the one on Destiny Islands.
Jessie went on listing the oddities of her friends, successfully making Cloud laugh.
"Oh and don't worry, your name won't seem weird here! Everyone has weird names. Like Squall and Zidane and Tifa."
"How about you? What's your name?" Cloud wondered.
"My name's Jessie!" the girl replied "And, I guess that makes me weird..."
Cloud cocked his head "But Jessie's not a weird name at all."
"Compared to everybody else it is. All the other kids have really nice and unique names. There are a million Jessies." she sighed and looked at her lap.
She felt something on her shoulder. She looked up and discovered the thing was Cloud's hand.
"Nuh uh." he shook his head, causing his hair to whip around his face as if caught in a strong wind "They might have the same name as you, but it's not possible for anybody else to be as nice and wonderful as you!" he insisted, sounding much older than he really was.
Now, as a first grader, Jessie didn't know what love was (besides the platonic love she gave and received from her family). So although she didn't know it then, Jessie fell in love with Cloud.
Jessie beamed and grabbed the boy's hand, pulling him up the stairs.
"We'd better get inside before the teacher has a meltdown." Jessie advised. "Do you know what a meltdown is?"
Cloud nodded, his mother saying she would have one whenever his older brother practiced drumming in the basement.
Jessie stopped, one hand on the doorknob.
"Oh and don't worry about not having friends; that's what I'm for!"
Cloud smiled and they walked through the door.
X
Kk there.