So, uh, sorry it took so long. I had some really confusing summer reading to do. Anyone else forced to read 'A room of one's own' by Virginia Woolf. But that's what Sparknotes is for. Anywhooooo, still super sorry about time. Read, enjoy,and review lots, cause this is the final chapter for this story. My first fanfiction is finally complete!
Be My Valentine Chapter 7: Final Chapter
Cloud
The door to the Captain's quarters slammed shut violently. Several hanging photos of various planes and schematics shook, nearly dislodged from their places on the walls. The bed creaked and its frame groaned as the body of the captain was flung onto it and his face buried into the closest pillow.
Cid Highwind, after waiting anxiously, after actually foolishly believing that old hag's words. None other than Cloud Strife, hero of the world, supreme leader of AVALANCHE, and resident spiky haired angst muffin, had walked in after him.
And according to the old lady's fortune, that angst muffin was his secret admirer. The same that had sent him that box of chocolates he'd found on his bed on that Valentine's Day.
Cid turned his head and stared intently at his dresser, in which the box of chocolates was stored, out of sight, but never out of mind. Not since their arrival. But it couldn't be Cloud right? That was impossible.
But Cid could remember the old hag's words very clearly. 'I see confusion and difficulties in your love life. But, I see resolution in your strife. A love-filled future for you, I do see. But you must head to your ship immediately. Head there and wait for this step is dire, the first to come after you, is thy true secret admirer.'
'Resolution in Strife huh?' Did that mean that the old hag's fortune was coming true?
Cid slid off the bed and walked towards his dresser, heart thumping wildly and clenching painfully ever so often. A phantom pain. Approaching his dresser, he opened the bottom drawer and removed the box of chocolates from its dark confines. He walked to the other side of the room and held the box in his hand, arm held out in front of him.
Rejection.
To put a name to a feeling. A skewed sense of rejection. Ridiculous, and completely unwarranted in Cid's mind. It wasn't as if he'd confessed his own new and tentative feelings, or even been given any in return. Cloud was his secret admirer, not …him.
He couldn't let this happen. He didn't like Cloud that way. But what could he do? He certainly wasn't going to stay holed up in his room and cry about it. Just ignore it? No, he'd have to do something. Maybe now, instead of waiting around like a goddamn schoolgirl, it was time to take action. And Cid Highwind was nothing, if not a man of action.
But what and how? How could he actively take steps to pursue Vincent, when he had someone chasing after him himself? And it was back to the drawing board.
Well, one thing he knew for sure. He wouldn't, couldn't accept Cloud as his secret admirer.
With that final thought, Cid released his unconsciously white-knuckled grip on the box of chocolates and let it fall. He spun on his heel, flipping the light switch off as he walked past, and settled back into bed for a short nap, eerily exhausted for such a time of day. As he slept, the box of chocolates remained in the same place he had let it fall.
In the small blue trashcan in the corner of the room.
Cloud Strife boarded the Highwind with a number of packages in hand. He had enjoyed his day, after he'd finally wrenched Tifa from his arm, of course. Cloud shuddered at the thought of the bartender's unnaturally large chest pushing against him and suffocating him to death. Not a great way to die.
Coming onto the deck, Cloud dropped his heavy packages on the floor by a wall; turned, and sunk to the cool floor to relax for a while. A large silhouette appeared in the doorway leading onto the infamous 'Highwind'.
The noon sun shined brightly behind the statuesque figure, shadowing any physical features. Cloud curled a single hand around the hilt of his Buster Sword, not yet drawing. Instinctively tensed for possible combat. As the figure stepped forward and a familiar face came into view, Cloud forced his fingers drop from the hilt of his sword.
Vincent
It was only Vincent
As Vincent made his way past Cloud, they exchanged a single nod of acknowledgement. Neither was in the mood for idle conversation. And neither of them ever were.
Soon Vincent was out of sight, to his room no doubt. Cloud let his head rest back against the wall with a soft thud. He closed his eyes and tried to force his bunched muscles to relax. It was never an easy feat. Just another wonderful, lasting effect of SOLDIER training.
Nanaki's eyes fluttered open as his wolfish ears heard the patter of footsteps approaching. He stood and stretched with feline-like flexibility while avoiding falling from the intricate network of pipes. Yuffie had chosen their hiding place.
Near the ceiling of the Highwind, by the entrance, a cat-thing and a ninja had slept dangling from the entangled tubing that ran across the airship. Gathering more awareness, Nanaki peered down between the pipes in time to see Cid enter the Highwind, then Cloud after him, and Vincent after him.
Nanaki watched with every passing moment. No words were exchanged, but that did nothing to quell the growing sense of dread he felt quickly forming.
He turned his head towards the peacefully sleeping form that was Yuffie and nudged her carefully. She woke with a jolt and almost fell from their hiding spot among the pipes. She stared at him blearily, eyes blinking and probably not completely awake, questioning.
Nanaki leaned his muzzle forward, next to Yuffie's ear and whispered quickly. He then scampered backwards, to avoid the oncoming storm of rage that was Yuffie Kisaragi.
Meanwhile outside the Highwind, the ground started to move violently. The poor citizens of Kalm scattered, ran, and ducked for shelter. Screams roses through the air as entire buildings collapsed and homes burned to the ground.
At the Highwind
"That's it!"
"But-"
Quickened footsteps sounded as they descended on the metallic floors of the Highwind.
"No. They are going to be together today!"
"And just how are you going to do that?"
Yuffie stopped in her determined stride, almost causing Nanaki to run into her. She turned only her head towards him. A large grin spread over her face, her eyes narrowed sickeningly and marred her usual girlish features.
"First," she started in a dangerously calm voice. "WE're going to kill Cloud Strife."
Nanaki didn't even skip a beat. "That won't work, Yuffie. I don't even think it's possible to kill Cloud. How are YOU going to kill him?"
"Any way you want. Poison him, drown him, bash him on the head. Got any chloroform? I don't care how we kill him. But we will kill him, and soon."(Quote from Cruella Devil that I altered)Yuffie exclaimed while the evil glint in her eye twinkled.
"That won't work, Yuffie." Nanaki sighed, and repeated his earlier statement.
Yuffie dropped the evil expression on her face and opted for pouting instead.
"Fine then. You just love to ruin all my fun." Nanaki sighed once again. Of course murder of all things would be on Yuffie's list of fun things to do. That and extreme match making.
"I think I have another idea though." Yuffie said, a bit more calmly. "And this one's sure to work."
She didn't waste time elaborating and raced down the corridor, leaving Nanaki to run after her. They both headed in the direction of Yuffie's room. Nanaki surveyed the room. It was messy, to put it lightly. The floor was nowhere to be seen, littered in an array of objects that Nanaki was more than sure didn't really belong to Yuffie.
"What is that?" Yuffie had pulled a large and rather dusty book from the dark confines of her closet.
"This is a book of ancient Wutaiian spells and potions." Yuffie explained, using a rather obnoxious 'spooky voice'. "It was given to me by my grandmother just before she died, many years ago."
"Something tells me you stole it."
Yuffie shrugged, "Believe me if you want."
"And what's this book supposed to do?"
"There's a love potion in here I've been waiting to try out. And now's the perfect opportunity." She rubbed her hands together anxiously and made odd squealing noises. Yuffie opened the book and thumbed to a dog eared page entitled Love Potions for the Lost and Clueless.
She ran her fingers over the words, reading quickly, her growing excitement evident in her hungry grin. Suddenly, she picked up the book, slammed it shut, and walked out of the room humming all the way.
Towards the kitchen
There had been no need for secrecy or privacy when they had entered. The crew members who inhabited the kitchens at the time had seen the pure glee on Yuffie's face and decided to clear out rather quickly.
Yuffie laid her book on the stainless steel countertop of the Highwind's kitchen and opened it again to the previous page. Scanning over it quickly, she scrambled for the ingredients described to her on the page, leaving the Highwind's usually immaculate kitchens in a complete mess.
Nanaki watched from afar as Yuffie collected the strangest combination of ingredients and threw them into a bowl and mixed quickly. She blew into the bowl and started singing a very odd song about faeries.
Faeries away, fetch me that flower. Up and Down, up and down. I will lead them Up and Down.(A/N: XD Cookies for anyone who recognizes this song and can tell me where it comes from!)
Weird, Nanaki thought, very, very weird. A flower with a long stem grew from the bowl, Yuffie snatched it from the bowl and ran off somewhere, with Nanaki right behind her.
When Cid had awoken from his daytime nap, it was already the afternoon. He felt refreshed but that did nothing to ease him about his current problems. Cid Highwind was not a feelings man, and he certainly never thought things through when it came to feelings. If he was mad because of something, he beat the hell out of it. If he was sad because of something or someone, he beat the hell out of that too.
And if he had a crush on someone? Well, he wasn't exactly sure, this was a first for him. He wasn't sure he wanted to beat the hell out of Vincent. No, he thought with a small blush, there were much better things he wanted to do with Vincent.
Still, it wasn't at all like him to sit by and worry when he had a problem, and anyone who knew him could tell you the same. So why was he just sitting there? In those few moments, a resolution was made. Leaving his flight jacket, gloves, and his trademark jacket behind, Cid slammed the door of his room shut behind him and strode through the corridors of his airship, a set destination in mind.
His previously quick strides slowed slightly seconds after he departed. He was nearing his destination, a specific area of the ship even the crew made sure to stay away from. As he walked down the final hallway, knowing what he was looking for was at the end of the hallway, his resolve started to crumble.
Even as a shaky hand marked with light scarring curled into a fist, rising to knock on the metal door, pale from being encased in a leather glove. Even as a tall pale figure answered, crimson eyes flashing with visible shock for only a millisecond before the beautiful face dropped into its usual stoic expression.
Even as this happened, his mind screamed at him, questioning his actions and his intelligence. Cid Highwind could count the number of times he had wanted to run away from a situation on one hand, and this was quickly turning into one of those times.
Even if he wanted to, his body wouldn't let him. He felt an odd sense of detachment, watching himself in slow-motion, a captive audience no longer in control of his actions. Watching, but not really hearing Vincent's question when he failed to explain his reason for being there quickly enough or even greet him as per usual.
Watching thin, pale lips form words he couldn't hear over the blood rushing in his ears, over his heart pounding, or his mind still screeching. Watching himself stand on tip-toes, cup Vincent's smooth cheeks in his own rough hands, and place a gentle kiss on his lips.
He could feel the slight flinch of surprise coming from Vincent. He could feel an odd sense of cold run through him when Vincent didn't respond. Cid broke the kiss, lowering himself back to his normal height, feeling overshadowed by Vincent's presence.
Once again, as much as he wanted to bolt back to his own room and never come out, he stood rooted on the spot. Closing his eyes and lowering his head, he waited for something. Yelling, punching, questions, disgust. Something. He fully expected to feel Vincent's claw run him through, transforming into Chaos in his anger.
But there was nothing. A long stretch of silence before he felt a warm hand cup his chin, forcing his head up and eyes open, where those same thin lips landed on his, as softly as a butterfly would land on a flower. Drinking from him in just the same way.
Strong arms circled around him as they pulled him into the darkness of Vincent's room. Two figures not to be seen again until morning. Tired but happy all the same. The happiest they had ever been in their entire lives.
Yuffie made her way to the gloomy corridor that held Vincent's room, flower in hand. She felt positively giddy. Soon her hard work would pay off as soon as one of those two knuckle-heads got a dose of her love-potion.
Rounding the corner, she glanced about before smirking, and disappearing behind the corner once again, running into a panting Nanaki.
"Wha…?"
"Shhhhhhhhh!"
This was perfect; Yuffie thought gleefully, Cid was standing right at Vincent's door. She could hit them both with one shot. Like stealing two powerful materia from the same person. A double win situation.
But as Yuffie watched on, waiting for the most opportune moment to strike, a frown came to her face, and she dropped her hand. Nanaki watched too, with a different sort of reaction.
Just as he had guessed, he thought, nodding as he watched Vincent pull Cid into his room, the whole situation could solve itself without fortunetellers or love potions of any kind. He was happy for his friends and fellow teammates.
When the scene had ended, Yuffie sighed and turned on her heel, walking back the direction she had came, leaving Nanaki to stride beside her.
"Where are you going Yuffie?" She seemed disappointed, Nanaki thought. But as she turned to answer his question, he wasn't so sure she was very upset at all.
"I'm going to find Cloud," she said, white teeth gleaming in a feral smile. "I put a lot of work into this potion. Someone is going to test it out for me."
And Nanaki sighed.
Kay, so that was the last chapter. And sorry, I realized that I jumped around this story alot with mood, time, and character POV. So sorry if it sucks. And also sorry that I didn't write a lemon. I would write one if I didn't pass out from bloodloss through the nose after the first two sentences. But, ya know.
Read and Review
~NsDb
