Chapter 82: Hopes and Dreams Exit

They went back to their hotel rooms first and Cloud didn't let go of Denzel or set Marlene on her feet until they were in front of the door to the women's room.

"You two don't go out of either Tifa or my sight unless you're with two others from the group," he told them seriously and they both looked up at him with wide eyes and nodded. He looked at Tifa over their heads.

"Shinra doesn't need any more leverage than it already has."

It made Tifa feel sick to her stomach and mad at the same time – which was an odd combination – and she nodded and rested a hand on each of her siblings' shoulders. Then Cloud looked past her to Aerith.

"It's okay," he promised her softly. "We'll get your mom back."

She nodded back firmly but once the men had left and the women were alone in their room, Aerith burst into tears and threw a bottle that had been sitting on the dresser.

"Those – horrible people!" she swore it again. "Mom must be so – so furious with them. And I bet she's still making them tea – "

It said something about Aerith's mother that 'furious' was the word she'd be and not 'scared' and Tifa thought Aerith was right. She also knew her friend was crying and angry at the same time and she wrapped her arms around Aerith and held her tightly until her friend stopped trying to get away and just collapsed onto her shoulder to cry. Polished, pink nails dug into the fabric of her dress.

"It's not fair – it's not. They already have Papa. And now they've got Mom too. It's not fair."

"I know, I know," Tifa agreed, stroking her hair while she held her tight. Aerith was always so full of smiles and light – people forgot how much it cost her to be that way sometimes. "It's not right. But we'll make right. We will. And we'll let Elmyra shake her finger at them afterward and tell them how disappointed their parents must be in them. Right after we kick their butts."

It made Aerith choke a laugh and she held on to Tifa tightly. Tifa held her back and shut her eyes tightly. It wasn't supposed to be like this.

When had things gotten so big?

There was a knock at the door and Tifa turned her head toward it, realizing they hadn't even started to pack up their wet clothes yet or anything but Shera just shook her head and pointed to Denzel who was already holding a packed duffle bag. Apparently she'd done it while Tifa and Aerith had talked.

"Don't worry, Aerith," Yuffie came over now that the first storm was over. "I'm the White Rose of Wutai, the Great Ninja Yuffie. We'll get your mom back and then you and her can come and live in Wutai! We'll get your old room back and everything! You'll see, it'll be fun again. I promise."

The younger girl was so sincere that Aerith couldn't seem to help but smile weakly and she rubbed her hands over her cheeks while Shera went and got the door. Marlene went over and silently wrapped her arms around Aerith's waist and Aerith hugged her back. Cloud and Leon were in the doorway and both of them had their swords strapped over their backs.

"Cid and Zack have gone to get the airship. Barrett is following the Turks around and being annoying," Leon told them as both of the men stepped into the room and Shera shut the door behind them. Tifa was amazed at how quickly the entire team shifted from careless celebration to defensive, battle oriented. It broke a little part of her heart and yet the greater part of her was proud and relieved. 'Normal' was something other people got to be.

Denzel scooted over to Cloud and unconsciously assumed the same pose the taller blond was in. Unlike Zack, when Cloud was getting ready to go on the defensive it usually just looked like he was standing there. If you didn't know to pay attention to the way his feet were placed or the way his shoulders were shifted. Aerith went over and reached under the bed to pull out the box they'd gotten from Dio and opened it. Then she stood up and pressed the box against her chest.

"Do we have a plan?" she asked and Leon nodded but held up his hand in a negative motion and tapped his ear.

"Sure," he answered. "We do what we were going to do anyway and we deal with Shinra afterward. On the upside, we won't have to explain why we've suddenly got Turks with us since everyone in our party was at the dinner and already knows."

"Yuffie – " Cloud interrupted his sister just as she started to blurt –

"But what about - ?"

"We'll find something for your airsickness," he finished the sentence and Yuffie gave him a puzzled look before the light dawned in her eyes. Right about then, it dawned on Aerith too and her eyes got big and hopeful as she clapped a hand silently over her mouth. Leon nodded silently.

"We're a small group but we're versatile," Cloud told her softly with a nod and compassion in his eyes. Aerith nodded with tears in her eyes. They had two aces up their sleeves. Tifa thought Red and Vincent would be an unusual team – but the Turks didn't know about either of them. Or if they knew about Red they'd only think of him as an animal and Tifa didn't think they'd care if he wasn't still with the group. Tifa just hoped Aerith's mom was used to strange things. She had an idea that when the two of them showed up to rescue her it would be quite a show.

"When this is all over," Aerith raised a finger. "That smug little red head is mine."

"The natural one or the dye job?" Tifa asked and Aerith smiled and relaxed a little.

"Come on," Cloud moved to the door and opened it, moving through first to take up position in the hallway. The rest of the team filed out as well and together they moved through the building and up the stairs until they reached the roof. Aerith tucked the box into Denzel's duffle bag and Tifa raised her eyes to see incoming lights. The roof wasn't big enough for it to land. Instead, the Highwind hovered overhead and dropped down a rope ladder just as the Turks and their gun-toting escort arrived. Chivalry went quickly out the window as Tifa pointed out everyone else was going to have to climb up first and then the women in the dresses would come up. Cissnei didn't smirk that she was the only female in appropriate attire and Tifa almost wished she would. She really wanted to be able to dislike the other woman without feeling petty.

The kids went up the ladder first with an adult climbing just under them. Cloud followed Marlene and then Leon followed Denzel. Zack was waiting at the top and helped haul everyone on board. Except Reno. Apparently the dark haired ex-SOLDIERs manners were strong enough to cover women but not other guys he viewed as the enemy. Tifa came up the ladder last and he leaned close as he helped her onboard.

"We left our Hopes and Dreams behind," he told her with a wink and she exhaled.

"Is that what we're calling them?" she asked under the cover of the noise the ship made as it lifted directly upward and Zack grinned.

"I am."

Red probably wouldn't care but she had to wonder what Vincent would make of the entire bad joke. She wasn't even going to encourage Zack by asking who he'd named 'Hopes' and who he'd named 'Dreams'. Though – it wasn't exactly a bad moniker. Vincent and Red were carrying the team's hopes with them.

Then Tifa shivered and wrapped her hands around Zack's arm.

"Come on," she told him. "I've got to get back into some real clothes."

Tifa went below deck and changed back into her regular clothes and felt much better. She also slid her fighting gloves on and checked the materia in them. She didn't believe for a second that the Turks were just going to play fair suddenly or have the slightest compunction about throwing them all under any moving vehicle if it got the 'job' done. Then she looked around the room.

This was the 'girls' room. Did that mean Cissnei was going to sleep in here with them and Reno was going to try to bunk down with the guys? Tifa wasn't sure how she felt about sleeping in the same room as the other woman – and it didn't have anything to do with her being a Turk.

It had to do with Cloud…

Tifa exhaled and congratulated herself on having gone almost an entire half hour before she'd let that part rise to the surface. Here they were worrying about Aerith's mother and some insane top SOLDIER and she was thinking about the mystery past between the man she loved and the woman that was holding her friend's mother hostage.

Way to focus on the big, important things, Tifa, she mentally chided herself.

"Stop sighing and help me find a way to hide this," Aerith requested and Tifa looked up from lacing her shoes and saw her friend had the 'key' out of its box and was holding it in her hands.

"Sorry," Tifa winced at herself and scooted over to sit next to her friend on the bunk. Gingerly, she reached out and touched the strangely shaped thing. It was an odd item and Tifa wasn't sure what kind of key it was supposed to be. It looked a bit like a twig about the size of her hand and it slowly spiraled all the way down its length. "It's too big to wear as a necklace charm," she offered after a minute. It was a strange pearly color and felt cool to her fingers. Aerith cradled it in her hands and looked down at it.

"I don't want to put it somewhere it might get broken," Aerith agreed. "Or stab me if I fell on it."

"I bet they're going to go through all of our stuff as soon as we leave it alone," Tifa gave the professional opinion of someone that had grown up in the slums and Aerith nodded. Both of the girls stared at it for a long moment more and then, very hesitantly, Tifa said:

"What if – do you think we could put it in your hair? You know, tie the ribbon around it and then braid your hair around it? So it was in the middle of your braid? It might poke you in the back of the neck though…"

Aerith frowned at it and turned it over experimentally in her hands.

"I can't think of anything better," she admitted.

"Okay, turn around," Tifa instructed and soon was combing out her friend's hair. Denzel had gone with Zack but Marlene had stayed with them and she crawled up onto the bed in front of Aerith now. Aerith handed her the 'key' to hold and she toyed with it.

"You always wear the same ribbon," she commented as Tifa took the key from her and started to weave the ribbon around it. Aerith nodded and her eyes went soft and sad.

"A boy I cared about a great deal gave it to me."

All this time and Tifa had never known that. It made her throat tight and she concentrated on what she was doing. Marlene looked up at the brunette and asked innocently:

"The man that looked like Zack?"

Aerith went very quiet for a minute and then she softly answered:

"Yes. The man that looked like Zack."