Chapter 9: Mysteries
Cloud didn't walk through crowds the way most people did. Tifa noticed it as they headed toward the auditorium set aside for the cosplay costume skits. Most people either expected everyone else to move out of the way for them or else they dodged out of the way of other people. Dominant and submissive. It wasn't as obvious up here on the Plate the way it was below in the slums but Tifa was still aware of it. Cloud however didn't exactly do either and it took Tifa a little bit to realize what the difference was. He made eye contact with the people heading toward him. It should have been a little thing but most people, Tifa included, had developed the skill of looking at someone without actually looking in their eyes. Cloud however looked for eyes when he walked and it made people move to the side for him. The strange thing was – Tifa didn't think he was doing it to make people move out of the way or to prove he was dominant. It – he just seemed to do it. The way he'd asked his unselfconscious question about her personal life or the way he didn't seem to realize he shouldn't stand or sit as close to her as he did.
She hesitated to use the word 'innocent' to describe any male over the age of two, Denzel included. But – she couldn't think of a better word.
He was walking just half a step in front of her and a little to the side. Leading and being a kind of break for her against the people in the crowd that were going the opposite way. It saved Tifa from having to weave around bigger people and his pace was casual enough that she didn't have to hurry to keep up with him. Like he was intentionally matching his steps to hers so she wouldn't get left behind.
She told herself she was making it up – and didn't believe the thought in the least.
"You're from Wutai?" she asked, surprising herself. Usually she didn't ask personal questions any more than she answered them but – well, he'd started it. His head in front of her dipped once.
"I am now."
"But not always?"
There was a brief pause in him even though his movements didn't hesitate for an instant. She didn't interrupt the silence. Not even sure why she was asking.
"Not always" he finally answered and Tifa waited but he didn't offer anything else. Still – it didn't seem as if he was trying to shut her down so she asked:
"Where were you born?"
Again it was quiet in front of her for a long stretch.
"I'm – here. I think." His head turned, just enough for her to catch a glimpse of impossible blue over his shoulder for her as he slowly added: "I don't remember."
"oh" she stated it softly. The world had a lot of orphans that didn't know where they'd really been born. Or who their parents were. It would explain why Cloud and Yuffie didn't look at all alike, if Yuffie's parents had adopted Cloud when he was a child. Still, something about him made her not want to just jump to conclusions and so she asked:
"Yuffie's family adopted you when you were a kid?"
The edge of his lips twitched upward and he turned his head back to watch in front of them.
"Not really" his soft voice was amused. "I was almost sixteen."
Tifa couldn't help the smile that moved across her face.
"You're intentionally being mysterious, aren't you?" she asked and he made that coughing sound that signified laughter. His head shook, that barely there motion that made his blond spikes lightly sway.
"No." He stopped in front of the double doors and pushed one open, holding it for her to go through in front of him. His smile was quiet but it was in his blue eyes as well as he looked down at her. "It's not intentional."
She rolled her eyes at him with a smile as she slipped through in front of him. The auditorium, one of the smaller ones, wasn't full yet and Yuffie and Rikku/Edward were easy to spot in the corner of the room with their sweeping gestures and giggles. Tifa headed over that way, Cloud behind her and at her shoulder now that he didn't need to clear people out of the way for her.
"You came!" Yuffie spotted Tifa before she had even reached them and the younger girl bounded over to clutch at Tifa's hands, making Tifa smile as she gently squeezed Yuffie's hands.
"Well, you did invite me. And you sent your brother after me" she tipped her head in Cloud's direction and Yuffie grinned.
"He can find anyone," she stated proudly. "Anywhere."
"I believe you" Tifa cast Cloud a laughing look over her shoulder and saw it catch and then reflect in his eyes. She turned her attention back to Yuffie and Rikku.
"So are you both ready or did you want to run your skit past an impartial jury first?"
Yuffie looked pleased and embarrassed while Rikku just beamed.
"No, I think we're ready" Rikku offered. "We just wanted to pack the audience with as many friends as we could so when it's our turn they can scream really loud and influence the judges."
Tifa, veteran of multiple school plays and childhood exhibitions, smiled.
"I can do that" she nodded. "Where are the judges sitting so I can sit right behind them?"
Tifa soon found herself sitting in a filling auditorium. Cloud sat next to her and Yuffie had left her bag in the chair on the other side of her in case Aerith showed up. Two other girls, obvious friends of Rikku's and staunch supporters were sitting directly behind, talking happily in low voices. Apparently Cloud's hair had set them off and they were talking about another blond with shaggy hair one of them was apparently either already dating or intending to date as far as Tifa could tell from the snippets she'd overheard. Cloud either didn't hear it or ignored it. He'd again put an arm over the back of the chair Tifa was sitting in and – again – it was done in such a casual, normal way she would have actually felt awkward protesting it, like pointing out to a child that they were standing too close.
And yet, this close, Cloud hardly seemed like a child.
Yuffie and Rikku had disappeared back behind the makeshift curtains with the rest of the contestants and so Tifa turned toward Cloud.
"Tell me" she asked simply and for a moment, his blue eyes were blank. Then his brows shifted, pale, over them and his lips shifted down at their edges. It was too personal a question – Tifa mentally kicked herself and was just opening her mouth to apologize, realizing she'd finally overstepped the odd comfort zone they had with each other. Except he started talking.
"I was in the army. Shinra. I – Wutai – the Corporation wanted to build a reactor in Wutai. They - fought." His eyes were inward and his brows were knit over his eyes and Tifa noticed the way he hesitated over his words. Sympathetic, she laid her hand on his arm and his eyes met hers, sudden blue so concentrated it almost burned. "I – don't remember." His quiet voice confessed it as his eyes watched hers. "Not really. Just – bits. Yuffie says I saved her and so after we won – after Wutai lost – her father adopted me. A gesture of peace – and because of Yuffie."
It wasn't at all the story Tifa would have imagined and her eyes moved over his lean face. In answering her question he'd just given her about a dozen more. One side of her mouth twitched upward and she tapped her fingers against his arm.
"Are you sure you're not trying to be mysterious?" she teased and his smile broke like a sudden sunrise, washing away the tightness in his face.
"Promise" he told her and she had to resist the unexpected and inappropriate sudden desire to wrap him in her arms. Instead she just gave his arm a light squeeze and then took her hand back.
"Hey!" Aerith spun down into the seat next to Tifa in a sudden flurry and gave Cloud a grin. "Did I miss anything?"
Tifa gave Cloud a look, lips softening in a quiet smile but when she turned around to face her friend she shook her head with a smile.
"Just talking about Wutai." It wasn't that she wouldn't trust Aerith with everything and anything in the world. It was just… they were Cloud's stories and she didn't think they were the kind of thing he shared randomly. If he wanted to tell Aerith that was his choice. Not Tifa's.
"So when are we going?" Aerith wanted to know with a cheerful grin and Cloud made that sound in his throat that signified laughter.
"Maybe next vacation" Tifa answered. Not serious. It had taken her three years to save up for this vacation – well, any vacation. A trip to Wutai seemed like it might as well be a trip to the moon. Aerith was no richer than Tifa was but each year part of what she won in the competitions with her art was a free pass to next year's convention – a cheap but smart way to get good artists to return. She was also friends with the manager at the hotel they were staying at and had gotten them a rate so low that both of the girls could afford to split a room between just the two of them instead of rotating in and out of one with twelve other people. Aerith had friends in the strangest places, people just seemed to gravitate to the cheerful brunette.
"You could stay with Yuffie" Cloud offered quietly, apparently having no problem volunteering his sister. For just a moment, Tifa let herself think about that. Wutai had become a tourist center and was supposed to be beautiful. For just a minute she let herself think about whether she could save enough money for the trip there and back. Times three because if she went she'd want to bring her siblings. And then she'd need to feed them while she was there so that was more money. A souvenir or two plus gifts for their house hosts…
"Maybe some day" she offered without meaning it.
"Here we go" Aerith interrupted their mutual dream as the announcer, a large man dressed in a Card Captor outfit complete with tiny wings, stepped up to the microphone. Tifa settled back in her seat, comfortable thanks to Cloud's warmth, and let dreams of foreign places and escaping from under the Plate with her brother and sister slip away again. For now. She would make sure they escaped one day. They deserved sunshine.
Yuffie's skit was the third in the show and it started with 'Tini' and 'Edward' having a disagreement. Something about just how outdated his 'gold clown shoes' were. To decide who was right – they decided on a dance off. Which was funny enough but rapidly degenerated into flat out hysterical as they pulled out the worse dance moves known to man including the Cabbage Patch, the Robot, and even something Tifa hadn't seen since the Teen Age Mutant Ninja Turtles movie that had featured Vanilla Ice. The song choice didn't help any either and before they'd even reached the end of their skit, half the audience were on their feet cheering as 'Edward' pulled the Running Man out for the win. Tifa was on her feet as well, cheering loudly with the rest and Cloud did his part with a whoop that was probably heard halfway across the convention center. Aerith let out a whistle that might just damage Tifa's hearing on that side for the next few days.
The last few skits got positive responses as well but there was really no question that the bizarre nature of Yuffie and Rikku's character lambasting skit was going to win. They got a standing ovation when they were called back up onto the stage for their award and 'Edward' seriously broke character by bouncing up and down and squealing. Afterward, the crowd of friends gathered around the two triumphant cosplayers and Tifa gave Yuffie a hug.
"That was hysterical," she was still laughing at the memory. "I wish had a video capture."
"I got it" Rikku's silver haired friend tipped a small camera in her hand and smirked. "Give me your email address and I'll send you the web site when I post it."
Another flurry as more email addresses and names were exchanged. If she had gotten absolutely nothing else out of this trip, Tifa was going to be able to entertain her brother and sister for months with the pictures and video from this convention. They all lived vicariously through each other in her family and everyone was happy to both be the observer and the carrier.
"Okay" Rikku's other friend spoke up. "Karaoke. Tonight downstairs. Who's going?"
"Come on, you've got to come" Rikku turned to the rest of them. "I can't sing but they're going to make me anyway. I need moral support."
"You mean someone to drag up there with you" her friend inserted and Yuffie laughed. Wrapped her hands around Cloud's arm.
"We'll come" she volunteered them.
"Us too" Aerith joined the conspiracy, leaving Tifa to simply sigh good naturedly. It looked like she wouldn't be getting much sleep tonight either but that was all right. She'd rather not miss anything. She could sleep when she was home again.
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Told you lot I'd update regularly. Don't worry we've apparently got a long way to go too. Reviews would be nice though - they feed my writer's soul and assure me people are actually reading these.
