005: Flowers

Their headquarters weren't exactly official, the public continued to shun them for everything they've done in the past, no matter how hard Rufus tried to redeem himself others were never easy to trust them. He believed even Cloud had his own issues with the company and despite teaming up with them for a little while, Rufus knew he still hadn't fully trusted them yet. That was alright, he suspected that, he knew everyone had reason, so he couldn't blame them. But that didn't prevent him from trying at the very least. Their headquarters resided a little outside of Kalm for now, despite most of the public hating them, a few of the Turks had gone of their ways to slack off at Edge, those few being none other than Reno and Rude, and they didn't even care if others looked at them funny.

That following evening they finally returned, and usually they would go off and retire to their rooms, this time they didn't.
"Hey boss, you ever heard of Spira?" Reno asked, Rufus sitting at his chair, with his back turned to them, the name immediately caught his attention – he's heard of it alright. "Some chick just came from there," and if Reno remembered correctly, this would be the same exact Spira he heard of years ago. "So how come she came all the way from there when they hate us so much?" Long ago, Spira had developed a rocky relationship with Gaia, or so they heard. Shinra had always been a corrupted and sly company, even in the days they set out on a journey to find Spira for the rumors of 'natural' magic wielding people, among those people had been those with 'natural' abilities to call upon summons – the summoners.
Of course something like this would've definitely benefited Gaia, if it weren't for Spira's beliefs as well as their desperate need for the summoners.

It was then that Spira decided to cut all ties between Gaia, and they closed themselves off from the entire world. "People here grew greedy," Rufus explained, "they wanted to use summoners for their own expense." There were files around the library at Shrina Headquarters, now that all probably lied in piles of rubble or were burnt to a crisp among the rest of the ruins, but Rude and surprisingly even Reno had often browsed the writing during their visits to the library. Some were strictly confidential, even to their eyes, others were easily obtainable.

From what he remembered, it wasn't at all something he really paid much attention to, just like most of the files and writing in the library, but it had held his attention for a while. Natural magic wielding people who mastered this technique without the usage of materia, a group of people with the ability to call on summons without the use of materia – sometimes even all at once. These people were heavily connected with the summons; they were experts at handling them. How the summons had been contained in materia had been a mystery and often left questions buzzing around – were they the same that the summoners from Spira had? Another statement that caught the eyes of the Turks had been the rumor that summoners had the ability to 'communicate with the Lifestream' as well as banish those who have yet to return to the planet. Sounded a little too familiar with the Cetra to ever be a coincidence.

But the subject was put off, no one had ever been to this Spira, and other employees fed off these stories and rumors, making up different alterations, speaking of 'humans who still held onto the ability to wield magic', and an old time favorite, that there were possibly more Cetra in the world.

No, it was stupid, it was bullshit, and that's why the Turks chose to ignore this but to hear the name of that continent from the mouth of a woman who claims to come from there, it was all too…mind boggling, even for Reno.
"I thought the Ancients were extinct."
"They aren't Ancients," Rufus answered. "But they're similar. The summoners and mages are believed to be humans that somehow still held onto their abilities, or…maybe they simply learned to wield them again." Had it been possible that one could learn to something as complicated as the magic of the Ancients? It sounded far too good to be true.

Rufus, having recovered from his Geostigma and now on the path of rebuilding Shinra in a new light and a fresh start, sat at his desk, his chair wheeled back to face the window. He still didn't turn to face the Turks yet. "Now what were you saying about this girl?"

"The girl…" Rude explained. "She claims she's from there." That was all he said though – never the talker, that Rude, and he just repeated what Reno first said. But it still captured Rufus' attention.
Now why would anyone from Spira ever explore to Gaia when they vowed to never have anything to do with them? Far too many possibilities bloomed in the blond's mind and he was left pondering heavily on what the reason might be.
"This girl…you get a good look at her?"

She yawned to her hand, didn't bother with unpacking as she flopped onto the inn's bed for the entire night. Her body ached, her mentality and emotions suffered greatly and all she wanted to do was sleep everything away. Tomorrow she would begin her job hunt and set her plans to travel back home. It wouldn't be easy but she had no other choice. "Oh well…" Yuna whispered to herself as she lied on her stomach, fingers gripping around the fabric of the sheets. It was probably hopeless from the start. This terrible feeling of dread and loss continued to cling to her, she never felt so lost before. But it wouldn't be too bad, right? She could go back home, become the priestess everyone wanted her to be and live a good life helping others and guiding them to the right paths in life. She could babysit Vidina and watch him grow up, revisit old places, hang out with old friends, relax, be at peace, and that would be just fine.

This silly burst of searching was simply a mistake and now she had to pay for them. Lesson learned. The weight on her chest lifted, if slightly, she felt a little better now. With her new found optimism, she would approach the new day and set out for her short term goal. Already she felt like she could do this.

Four deliveries in one day, two for residents at Edge, two for residents at Kalm, and he still had more to go, but Cloud earned himself a break at least. He thought about traveling back to Tifa's bar and ordering himself a drink, or simply ride out to the grassy plains and enjoying the sunlight once more before it disappeared, he also felt a little hungry. But there was one place he could go to, a very special place.

Just as his decision had been made he came across a familiar looking face, the brunette with the pair of mismatched colored eyes had looked toward the shoe store in front of her, though she didn't seem that all interested in the pairs of shoes at the display window. Just in, as she sensed his presence, she turned back to be face to face with Cloud, greeting him with a friendly smile. "Cloud!"

Cloud greeted back with a nod, and though he didn't smile, he tried not to look so cold either. "Hey." The woman approached him, her hands behind her back, her attention averting to the concrete.
"I'm…taking your advice, I'm going home." She said.
"Oh?" And yet Cloud still felt slightly surprised, maybe even a bit disappointed; the young woman hardly put up a fight, she was so easy to give up… No, no, he gave her the advice in the first place.
"Yeah, I'm looking for a job right now…" The woman twiddled with her fingers behind her back, looking back to the shoe store. "I need enough gil to go back."

A moment of silence passed them, bits of guilt built from the pit of Cloud's stomach, the possibility of being a little harsh on her passed through his mind. Then the girl broke the silence. "Oh, I never did introduce myself, did I?" Not properly, at least. "I'm Yuna, pleased to meet you." There was no need for introduction on Cloud's part as she already addressed with him his name many times before; nonetheless, he nodded once more in confirmation, turning his attention to the shoe store. "You're working here?"
"Huh? Oh! No, I was just about to go in and look." Yuna kept her hands behind her back, rocking on her heels to her toes. "Are you working right now?"
"Yeah…I was just about to take my break." Cloud immediately turned to head off; Yuna followed right alongside.
"Do you need any help?"
"Uh, no, sorry." At least it was worth a shot.
"Alright," Yuna decided to pry to further on the subject. "You know, I could use a break too. Why don't I join you?"

This really wasn't something he would normally do with someone else, this was a peculiar place only reserved for him, the very place that still stood even after the destruction of Midgar. But he was sure Tifa would just tell her where he was later on if Yuna decided to visit her again. "So you're taking a break from looking for a job." He figured it wasn't that all too hard to find a job, especially in a place like Edge, but the woman seemed eager. Still, part of Cloud debated heavily on whichever or not this was a good idea. His place hadn't been all uncommon, sometimes even the cured children would sneak out and play there, and he'd often catch them during his visits…

Then there was Aerith, whose memory kept creeping back into his mind, even more now that Yuna was here. All that was left of her—spread out, gone, or rare to find, except…

"If you insist, let's go."

Fenrir scared her, it was obvious and the foreign woman didn't try to hide it. She was hesitant to sit on the seat, even more hesitant when Cloud instructed her to hold on tightly to him; she did nonetheless, and blushed too. It was just a ride, a quick ride to their destination; that was all they needed. Once the vehicle rumbled beneath her, she gave out a squeak – it…actually felt pretty good. Cloud took off at a leisurely pace at first, to wave through the civilians walking amongst the streets of Edge; it gave Yuna enough time to get used to the ride – nothing dangerous, nothing different from the machina she had ridden back at Spira.

The speed didn't pick up till after they got out of Edge though, it was then Yuna truly held on tightly, burying her face to Cloud's back, breathing in his scent. She smelled hints of grass, earth, and flowers, not at all a dirty smell, a smell connected to nature, a smell that indicated his travels.

With her mind distracted on Cloud's scent and the rumbling of the vehicle, she hadn't noticed how close they came to their destination. As they passed through piles of rubble, run down and broken buildings, loose hanging wires and were under shadows of huge piles of metal did Yuna notice that they were arriving at the ruins of Midgar.

This is where they were going; this was the one place that brought Cloud comfort through the entire aftermath of the Meteor destruction, and after facing his greatest enemy. Nothing but piles and piles of ash, metal, and other materials decorated what were once streets, all but one barely standing, strange, 'pointy' looking building with large beautiful windows of stained glass, part of its roof broken off and craved in, along with chunk of its wall. A church, it was Sector 5's church, and most importantly, it was her church. Yuna only heard about this from Cloud's story, but never imagined she would actually be visiting it. It was so breathtaking and amazing, even if it was worn out and destroyed like the rest of this old city.

"We're here...I can't believe we're here." She said. "Are you sure you want me here? Is it okay?" Cloud simply urged her to proceed on and follow him inside.

The healing water that had once formed a deep pond by where the flowerbed had been evaporated entirely, or rather, soaked in with the rest of the surrounding earth and produced beautiful, bright yellow and white flowers. The water had only made the flowers bloom more wonderfully than ever, and more grew beyond that spot in the middle, upon the earth that poked out from broken floorboards. To Yuna, they resembled lilies, but as she stepped further into the sunlight that shone in from the large, gaping hole of the ceiling, she knew, she felt how different everything had been.

This place is special.

"You met her here, right?" Yuna recalled bits and pieces of Cloud's story – Aerith, the slum's flower girl, and these flowers were her symbol. "I'm glad you brought me here."

Cloud watched as the brunette slumped to the ground, and gently pawed at the flowers; the petals were soft to her touch. She wondered if it would be alright to pick one off the ground, to wear it in her hair or to take it back with her, but she was too afraid to yank it, out of fear she might end up destroying the flower on accident. Fingertips continued to brush at the petals, the sunshine rained its energy down on her and the plants.
"Back then…" Cloud began; he casually stayed behind, watching the young woman examine the flowerbed. "I used to come here a lot after she died." He left out details of his sickness, that wasn't important, not anymore. "It's different here."
"I can tell." It was then Yuna had to sigh as she leaned closer to the flowerbed. Rather than waste her time in this rundown building, she should be looking for a job! She knew this, but she didn't want to leave. A break wasn't a bad thing, she would get back to it, and she knew she would. "These flowers, this soil…you said that Midgar's land had been sucked of all its life, so how is it that these flowers have no problem growing?"
"Dunno. It's a mystery but they always grew here, Aerith grew them herself." And they continued growing.
"Yes that's right and she sold them too." It was a great idea, to sell flowers among an environment that shared none, toward people who lived in a polluted city their whole lives, so that even they can share in the beauty of it. Then it came to her, it clicked and her mood brightened at her sudden idea. It wasn't crazy, it was…right, it had to work!

"I'll sell these flowers." She said, her lips pulling up to a gleeful grin; she turned to Cloud, shining with optimism. "I'll take care of these flowers; I'll sell them, just like she used to do." Edge was dull and gray enough as it was, she was sure some citizens wouldn't mind flowers living up things a bit. "With this, I'll make enough gil to go home!"

It wasn't a terrible plan, but it wasn't one that would have her rolling in gil to be exact; Cloud knew this, but he didn't discourage her. To have another flower girl…would Aerith want this? Yes, he was positive she would.
"I want you to help me."
"Huh?"
"You deliver, right? That means it will be easier to hand flowers out if I had someone like you helping me."
"You're asking me to help…?"
"Oh, right. Would you like half of what I gain?"
"No, no, I can't…" The young woman clearly thought far too ahead of herself, he hadn't even agreed to anything yet. "You need that gil."
"But you can help me!"

Light bickering proceeded, Yuna continued insisting, and Cloud continued refusing. She didn't need this, but she wanted to try it, Cloud didn't want her profits, but she didn't want him to work for free, so he insisted he didn't work for her at all. It grew to a cycle.

Argument aside, the thought of another woman coming here to take care of the flowers, he didn't know how to feel about it, but he certainly didn't mind.

"I want to do this," Yuna explained. "I want to continue what she did." She grew determined and there was nothing stopping her now.
Just as Cloud sighed, just as he was about to agree with the young woman as he truly didn't think of it as a bad idea, the doors to the church pushed open.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" That familiar, cocky tone reached his ears once more; it's been a while, but he recognized it any time. Why, of all times, was he here? Why were they here? The pair turned to be greeted to just what Cloud expected – the sight of two males in their navy blue suits, Reno and Rude. "This is a pleasant surprise, didn't expect to see you here." Reno's attention had been fixed right on to the two, it was hard to tell just who he spoke to. "Or maybe I was expecting you here."

"What are you doing here?" Cloud responded curtly.

Reno's attention turned right to Yuna. "Business."