Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This collection is mine, as are Jake and McCallister. Enjoy!
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034 – Love at First Sight
Womp, womp. Womp, womp. Womp, womp.
Tifa was certain in that moment that that was the most amazing sound she'd ever heard. Dr. Polly Kim held the ultrasound wand against the small bulge of Tifa's stomach, adjusting the angle a few times to get a clearer image on the monitor. Unlike several weeks ago, at their first visit, the mess of static on the monitor actually yielded a discernible shape this time. Tifa felt a flutter in her chest as she distinctly saw their baby move.
Sitting in the chair beside her, Leon jumped, pointing. "D'you see that?!" He started, like an excitable puppy.
Dr. Kim smiled at his reaction and looked to Tifa knowingly. Tifa started to smile back, but she had been wearing the same dumb grin on her face since the doctor first turned on the ultrasound.
"I see it." Tifa said softly, more than slightly in awe.
"I think—" Leon squinted, ducking his head a little at the screen, as though that would make everything clearer. "I think I saw a foot." He whirled to Dr. Kim. "Was that a foot?"
Dr. Kim chuckled. "Probably. The baby does have feet. Two of them, actually."
Tifa felt giddy. For the past few months, she had been feeling her body change. Not all of it was pleasant…Hardly any of it was pleasant, if she was honest. Headaches, dizziness, moodiness, morning sickness, food cravings, food aversions, what felt like all of her senses maxing out at the same time, exhaustion, and, most recently, some muscle cramping.
But all of that suddenly seemed to be leading up to something as she looked at the ultrasound: seeing a head and feet and other moving parts inside her. She had only just begun to show around the belly: enough to look like she was gaining weight, but not that recognizable bump associated with pregnancy. Even just that little bump, however, made her head swim.
"I can't quite tell the gender. Sometimes it takes a little longer to see that." Dr. Kim said, removing the sensor from Tifa's skin and getting back to business. "When the time comes, do you want to know the gender ahead of time or be surprised?"
Tifa and Leon exchanged a slow look. They hadn't really discussed that. They had talked about seemingly everything else: nurseries and cribs and hospitals and diets and exercising and babyproofing and tests and how-to's, etc, etc. Yet somehow, when to find out the sex of this little bundle had never really popped up.
Leon's eyes were bright and she could tell he was exercising immense control not to spaz out and probably bounce around the exam room. He hid it well, but she had been catching him in the act of merely staring at her and smiling, being more affectionate than usual, and taking any opportunity to touch her stomach. She pretended to be annoyed and tease him, but she found his behavior to be absolutely adorable. Then again, her brain was swimming in hormones, so God only knew how SHE had been behaving.
"I don't—" Tifa started. "—really know."
Leon gave a little shrug and rubbed the back of his neck. "Would make picking colors for the nursery easier."
Tifa tutted, taking Dr. Kim's offered tissues to wipe the gel from her stomach and tug her shirt back down. "Now who says we're doing the stereotypical: blue means boy, pink means girl? Personally, I like green."
He lifted an eyebrow with a smirk, "For which?"
"Both." She quipped, bobbing her head as she sat up.
Dr. Kim smiled. "You have some time to talk about it. Now that you're in your second trimester, you should be feeling more comfortable than you have been. I would recommend getting into the habit of sleeping on your left side. This position will help with circulation." She advised.
Tifa nodded and scooted to sit on the edge of the exam table.
"And even if we can't tell the gender yet," Dr. Kim continued. "Generally around this time of growth, your baby will have developed ears. So it is possible that your baby may be able to hear you."
Leon snorted, "So no more hanging around Cid and his mouth."
Tifa snickered but asked the doctor. "Is it true that listening to classical music could increase an unborn baby's brain activity early on?"
Dr. Kim canted her head, "Put simply, it can."
Leon squinted an eye at Tifa. She looked at him and lifted her shoulders. "What? Don't give me that look. Last week you were trying to figure out how to babyproof the collapsible stairs to the attic."
"It's a legitimate pursuit." He huffed.
Tifa leaned toward him. "You have to be six feet tall to REACH them."
"Whatever." He folded his arms, but his smirk stayed in place. "At this rate, our kid will be able to figure out a way to dismantle them with the power of Mozart."
Tifa stood off the table. "Hopeless…Thank you, Dr. Kim."
The doctor nodded with an amused smile. "Of course. Good luck with the music."
As they left the office, Leon looked at Tifa. "Maybe instead of classical music, you could just start listening to comfort sounds…like running water or—"
"Leon, I already have to pee every five minutes as it is…"
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035 – Unfamiliar Territory
Rinoa backed into the door to her apartment, as her arms were laden with heavy boxes. She swept in with a flourish, leaving Aerith to enter in a more subdued manner.
"Welcome to the abode!" Rinoa announced, setting the boxes on the counter top that separated the living room from the kitchen.
It was only the second time that Aerith had ever been in the apartment since Leon and Tifa had moved out and Rinoa had taken over the lease. It was a bit of a shock in difference. While Tifa and Leon had kept minimal furniture and modest décor, and piles of paperwork everywhere as they controlled two individual departments in the Alliance, Rinoa's habitation in the apartment was much more…bizarre.
Rinoa, as it turned out, was a furniture junkie. In a living room built to contain one sofa, a coffee table, and maybe a recliner, she had crowded in two couches, a long coffee table with a glass surface, a wingback chair, and one of those abdominal exercise machines. This left virtually no room for any dining furniture, aside from a shady looking card table, one black office chair that she had probably nicked from somewhere, and a bright yellow lawn chair. All of the other furniture was brown suede.
The pastel beige walls had had posters pinned all over them: spanning from motivational pictures with penguins on them to monochromatic, blown up photographs of trees and rivers, to the acid-trip look of a rock band poster, to the subtle colors of a classical art piece reproduction. It was a clash of the cultural titans, and just trying to look at it all made Aerith's eyes hurt.
"What do you think?" Rinoa chirped, beaming ear to ear and obviously proud of herself.
Aerith figured she had a right to be. Just six or so months ago, the woman had stumbled back into Radiant Garden with nothing to her name but a few hundred munny and the clothes on her back. She had returned to no family, no home, and only friends that she hadn't seen or talked to since the invasion of the Heartless 15 years earlier. Unemployed, unskilled, and unconnected, she had done extremely well for herself in those six months.
"It's lovely." Aerith responded genuinely with a soft smile. "I'm just sorry to be an inconvenience."
"Pfft!" Rinoa waved a hand. "Are you kidding? Being roommates is going to be the best thing ever. This place gets so….quiet and boring when I'm here alone."
Alone. The word resonated in Aerith's head and she sighed.
"Either way," She said. "I appreciate you letting me move in."
Last week, her notice of eviction had been less of a notice and more of an eviction. It turned out that not only had Aerith defaulted on the last few rent checks, but the few before that had bounced on payment. And, despite her good terms with the landlord, he simply couldn't handle tenants who wouldn't—in her case, couldn't—pay their share.
She had mulled her options and they had all been humiliating. She and Cloud weren't comfortable enough in their relationship yet to breach the 'living together' barrier. They weren't even really on good terms at the moment, what with him declaring his opposition to her research. They hadn't talked much lately, and it hadn't helped her through this. Not that he even knew about her financial troubles. She had kept a tight hold on that information. It was nobody's business but hers…and her new roommate's, apparently.
So she couldn't ask Cloud for help, or wouldn't, rather. Leon and Tifa had enough on their minds with the baby on the way. Yuffie's apartment was barely big enough for the skinny ninja to live in, and after over ten years of living in extreme proximity to Cid…just no. So…call it pride or the preservation of what little dignity she had left, but she had quickly seen living with Rinoa as her best option. As extroverted and talkative as Rinoa was, Aerith had seen her bear her fair share of emotional weight without going public about it. She trusted her to be discrete about this situation.
"My room is this door." Rinoa gestured, "And that one's yours." She pointed to the door farther down the narrow hallway. "Bathroom, kitchen, living room, Ivan." She pointed to each in turn, finally gesturing toward her red beta fish, who was hovering sullenly in the green rubber grass that Rinoa had stuck in the sand in his bowl.
Aerith nodded, "I think I've got it." She thanked her again and went to her room to check it out for herself.
As much as Rinoa seemed to love covering up blank space, she had thankfully left the spare room untouched. There was a bare bed, a slightly dusty dresser, and a small vanity table in total in the room. It looked vaguely asylum-esque, but most rooms do until you add your own touches to them.
Taking a deep breath, Aerith made her first contribution to her new room. She set down the box in her arms on the bed. The weight of the box made it sink into the mattress a little. It was full of her notes and papers on her undercurrent theory. Packing and moving had been exhausting, and she still had several more boxes and trips to make. Unpacking and settling in was going to take days. She would have to hold off on the research until she handled this first.
"Question." Rinoa popped her head into the room. "Sorry, I know you're having Aerith Time right now…but I gotta know." Her face narrowed seriously. "Delivery sandwiches or take out pizza?"
Aerith blinked, "Er—pizza."
Rinoa smiled, "Oh, this is going to be the start of a beautiful roommatehood."
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036 – Operation Paper Crane Part Two
Something new. That had been the mission. The reason being that Tabaeus had seen all of Jake's moves before, when he used them on other women. Not only did that make it a challenge, but it also didn't quite sit as awesomely with him as it used to that people knew of his exploits. Sure, he knew how to show a woman a good time, but it was a honed craft. That had to be why Tabaeus had rejected him the first time. She probably thought that she was just the next name on the list, after seeing him work his magic so many times.
Well, tonight was going to be completely new.
And now that he was about to make his move, Jake felt nervous.
From her spot at the table, Yuffie gave Jake a thumb up. She had done her part in getting Tabaeus to the bar, now the ball was in his court. He hopped up onto the karaoke stage and snatched up the microphone.
"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen." He announced to his old familiar crowd.
He was no stranger to karaoke. In fact, he was a frequenter of this particular stage. He and Tifa made quite the team on some nights. The twangy country music of the song he'd chosen chimed in behind him. Not his usual choice, but he took Tabaeus to be a country music fan, so…it was new…so, there.
"This song tonight," He started, fiddling with the cord of the microphone in his hand. "goes out to a very special girl, who I just can't quit."
A few whistles came out of the crowd, but Jake looked past their energetic eyes to where Tabaeus and Yuffie were. Yuffie was wearing a Cheshire grin that was as subtle as a wildfire. Across from her, Tabaeus's eyes were wide: she had already figured him out, of course. He'd have to be quick or she'd bolt.
"You know who you are." He wrapped up quickly as the start of the song neared.
As soon as that first line of lyrics popped up, Jake struck a warrior pose and pointed in Tabaeus's direction, belting it out.
"I'm shameless…when it comes to LOVIN' you! I'll do anything you want me to, I'll do anything at all…"
Under the light of the karaoke stage, it was harder to see her reaction, but he didn't hear an abrupt chair scraping the floor or the door fluttering as she made a break for it, so he kept going. Midway through, during a lull in the song, he managed a glimpse across the crowd. Yup, she was still there, though it looked like Yuffie was close to physically restraining her.
Well, that wouldn't do.
Nearing the crescendo of the song, Jake hopped down off the stage, taking the mic with him as he boldly crossed over to where Tabaeus and Yuffie were, in order to serenade her properly. Ha, she had never seen him do THIS before!
Reaching their table, Jake swept over with a flourish and took Tabaeus's hand with his hand that wasn't holding the microphone.
"I've never lost anything I've ever missed…but I've never been in love like this!" His voice cracked, outside his vocal range with the lyrics, but went on unabashed. "It's out of my hands, I'm shameless! I don't have the power now…And I don't want it anyhow…So I gotta let it goooo." He plowed on.
The song continued, but he faltered when Tabaeus stiffly took her hand back. She was sitting ramrod straight and leaning far back in her seat, eyes wide and looking shocked at his display. Blood was quickly draining away from her face, and he thought for a wild moment that she might pass out. That DEFINITELY wasn't his intention, but was it really his fault if he caused women to swoon?
"N-N-" She stammered. "Jake—"
The karaoke crowd's attention, having been on Jake's performance already, suddenly included Tabaeus, waiting for her reaction to the serenade. Surely she saw how romantic this was? This was above and beyond any effort he had ever made to ask anyone out. He was showering her with all of the attention that she never got. This way, he was showing her that he could see her and that she deserved attention like this. This wasn't spur of the moment like his first date question had been. This was planned and had forethought put into it. And boy did he know that Tabaeus McCallister loved plans and forethought.
Tabaeus abruptly stood, nearly tripping over her seat as she did so. She was trembling, and her eyes flickered to the crowd of people looking at her expectantly. Yuffie looked a little alarmed at her suddenness, and Jake paused, starting to think that this hadn't been the greatest idea. He just couldn't see why.
"N—" Her head jerked almost imperceptibly from side to side, communicating what her stammering couldn't.
Tabaeus bolted then and Yuffie jumped to her feet. Tabaeus didn't look back as she flew through the doors and out into the night.
"Wait, Tabaeus—" Jake dropped the mic and started after her.
"Jake, no." Yuffie lifted a hand. "I'll go talk to her."
"But…what did I do?" He asked, helpless and feeling rejected a second time.
"I don't know…but…let me go find out, 'kay?" Yuffie said hopefully before giving chase after Tabaeus.
Jake was left standing alone at the table, while the next in line for the karaoke ramped everybody back up with her rendition of the song from Titanic.
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A/N: The song that Jake sang was "Shameless" by Garth Brooks. No ownership or affiliation with me. Though I only included a few snippets of it, this song in its entirety pretty much sums up Jake's feelings about McCallister.
034 was a little nod to some of my other stories where Papa!Leon goes into effect. I had to slip it in here because of reasons. I would write it more often, but then I'd get diabetes.
Preview for next week: "See, I always carry my emotions on my sleeve. I tell everybody what I'm feeling, so nobody knows what I'm really feeling." Yuffie explained. "But you're even worse, Cloud. You don't tell anybody anything that you're feeling, so naturally everybody can see it on your face."