When I was doing this chapter, I thought to myself about how much Evie had grown up.
Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII and all parts of the contemplation go to Square Soft or rather Square Enix. I own Evelia and the things based around her.
I woke up in the morning wrapped up in his sheets, with the Hero nowhere to be seen. I sighed lightly as I laid in his bed looking around.
"This is the Second time… Really Evie?" I groaned mad at myself for my flirtatiousness. "If I wasn't always surrounded by such sexy people all the time this wouldn't happen." I whispered into his room. There was silence afterwards. I figured there would be. "Twice with Sephiroth and once with Tseng… Now I feel like a whore," I muttered.
"Actually, the woman at the front counter seems to be the best in Sector 8," I sat up holding the blankets to my pale form. I locked eyes with him, not nearly as shy as before.
"For the love of Gaia! Don't tell me you've been with her?"
"Fine I won't." I let out a low groan as I fell back a bit disgusted. "Had your questions answered?"
"Yes," I mumbled reminding to keep myself from saying anything that might provoke him to come back to bed.
"By the way, Happy birthday. I suggest your shower and leave," I sat up to glare at him questionably.
"Kicking me out so soon?" he was previously sitting in a chair watching me, and now he had stood up.
"Not at all, on the contrary you may stay as long as you please, but Zackary is searching for you. It is only nine; you have the whole day with him. He'll be coming to ask me if I've seen you soon. I'll distract him so you can return to your room," he left with a mug in his hands, his silver hair flowed down his muscle back and I sighed as he closed the door.
"He's a real sweetie at heart…" Somewhere inside of me I wanted to stay here and wait for Sephiroth to come stay with me again, but a strong and more dominant piece wanted to see Zack. The thought of him made me. The shredded clothing was still on the floor and it made me laugh remembering but I grabbed my pants and pulled them on as a kick sounded and continued until Seph opened it. I threw my shirt on real fast.
"You sure? I checked her room, she isn't answering. She hasn't answered for two days now."
"Maybe she's on a mission," Sephiroth silky voice supplied.
"Yeah that's why I came here to see if you would know," Zack answered lightly.
"She's a 16 year old woman; I don't know what she does every waking moment of the day. Check her status downstairs to see if she's on Stand-by again."
"Yeah, I will. Sorry Sephiroth, I figured you'd be the one to recommend her for a mission." The door closed and his running boots sounded. Zack would be able to see if I was on Stand-by but not if I was on any missions lately. Sephiroth was more cunning than I figured.
"Nice save General…" he smiled a little. He seemed less tense, calmer, and not as tired. My shoulders fell, I was his stress reliever. His smile widened as he saw the realization dawn on my face. He walked over and nibbled my ear.
"Word of this gets to no one, correct Colonel?"
"Same as before. We act as if it never happened…but you seemed to enjoy bringing it up to-"
"Fluster you, yes. My favorite occupation…" he mumbled lightly. He pushed me by the small of my back. "Go before you tempt me again."
"Someone's in a particularly good mood," I said adding emphasis to the "tic" in particularly.
"Yes, very much so. And I thank you. Now leave."
"I'm a bit scared because the moment I leave through that door and then see you later, you're going to be in a mean, grouchy and uptight mood." He said nothing but opened the door and pushed me through slamming it closed. "Thanks for proving my point… Asshole." I walked to my door smiled in content and opened it before sneaking in quickly and trying to change. A knock came again as I ruffled my hair some more. As if a night with Sephiroth couldn't do that to a girl.
I thought about how old he could be as I walked to the door. I took a deep breath and changed my attitude before swinging it open, "Yes zackary?"
"How'd you know it was me?"
"Who else would come to my door and knock on it for ten minutes leave and come back to knock on it again at this early in the morning?"
"You heard me before?"
"Yeah, there's a little thing people do nowadays… I believe it's called ignoring. Now what may I help you with?"
"Happy Birthday!" I took a minute to sink in the fact that today was indeed my birthday. I smiled warmly. "Now I left my whole day open so we could hang out together, I want to buy you something. Something that you like, but unlike the ring, I want it to be something you'll always have on." I nodded.
"Fine, but I need to shower and see Sephiroth first." He nodded and walked in as I strolled away from my door. Zack knew to make himself at home as I showered.
--
After showering, getting dressed in somewhat casual SOLDIER attire, kicking Zack out of my mini-home, and locking the door, I finally turned to walk to Sephiroth's mini-home. I knocked a couple times to show it was me and not Zack. He opened the door silently and with a raised eyebrow. Thoughts of the time spent with him made my cheeks go red, but I kept his gaze. He smirked.
"Finally growing up I see, good. You came, why?" I swallowed my saliva and spoke.
"You had a present for me…" I didn't want to tell him that I forgot it, but he seemed to have noticed on his own. He picked up the black box from a table next to his door and handed it to me before shutting the door lightly.
"I didn't know Sephiroth would get you something too…" I nodded shrugging a little. I opened the box to find that silver pendant in there again. I pulled it from the box again to watch it sparkle in the light. "Looks expensive."
I stayed silent as I stared at its every feature. Both the chain and the pendant was sturdy, it would last me a very long time. I smiled at how Sephiroth thought into the future for me.
The pendent itself was the same sturdy beyond belief but handcrafted. I had never seen a necklace like this one in any store before. It was decent sized with even the smallest of details. It was wing shaped. With the feathers detailed beautifully. Some stuck out from the bottom of the wing like they were falling off. I smiled lightly. I flipped it over to see an inscription on the flat side.
Happy 16th Birthday Evelia. Sephiroth. It was simple, but it meant a lot because this was the only birthday of mine Sephiroth acknowledged.
"Help me put it on Zack." He nodded and fumbled with it for a minute before if fell nicely around my neck before the pendent laid against my large chest. I smiled genuinely.
"Let's go Zack."
"You aren't going to thank him?" I shook my head.
"He already has my thank you." I smirked knowingly.
--
That day I spent with Zack. Which was surprising because he's seemed very caught up with Aerith since we got back. He at least honored my 16th birthday, which I found very nice. The hard part was locking eyes with him. So many things came to mind. Our vacation, last night, when we first met, and how we used to compete. As these thoughts filled my head an odd feeling swelled inside of my torso. I ignored it, but hanging out with my best friend, he would of course notice.
"What's up Evie?" I chanced small glance at him.
"Nothing… so why aren't you hanging with Aerith?" He stopped walking obviously displeased with my words.
"Why would I be hanging out with Aerith on your 16th birthday?" I opened my mouth but just ended up shrugging. He walked up to me and grabbed my shoulders lightly, staring into my eyes. "Evie, we've known each other since we were 12, and excluding how we didn't talk for a few months because you were busy, we have always been good friends even though we sort of forgot the other existed," Zack chuckled lightly at this. I smiled a bit ashamed that I was so caught up with my life that I forgot my friend.
At the time, I had just considered him my crush. The guy I really liked. The he was the guy who was my top competition. When I became a 1st Class, I had beat him, and then I was rushed headfirst into Sephiroth training. Then missions, then my first big mission, then taking care of Rufus, and by the time everything started to slow down for me it had been 6th months and we had grown very distant.
My eyes dropped a bit and my shoulders sagged, "I…"
"I wouldn't miss today for anything, even if the world was being blown up I would be here for today." I shook my head.
"No you wouldn't. You'd be spending it with Aerith, and if that's what would make you the happiest then I'd want for you to do that."
"Maybe Evie, but not at the price of your happiness. It wouldn't be worth it." We were silent for a moment and my thoughts raced. "I would jump in front of a speeding train for you. I would see you on the saddest day of your life at the cost of anything. I would kill anyone who would hurt you…" He paused and the look in his eyes changed to a softer tone. He seemed to want to stop and say something, but he stopped himself and a puzzled look crossed his face. He turned away for a moment and when he turned back he looked over my entire face and body before giving me a hug.
He pulled me along afterwards, whatever happened before it seemed like he realized something. I felt important to him. We had a casual day, even running a few missions together. It ended that he took my out to eat and then to buy me something to have. We sat at a bench thinking it through.
"Well I don't need anything Zack, it's fine."
"No, I gave Aerith a bow, there has to be something you could have as well to always let you think of me. You want a bow too?" I laughed lightly.
"Zack, I'm a SOLDIER 1st Class, why the hell would I want a bow in my hair?"
"Too keep it out of your face."
"Touché, but no."
"Want a necklace?"
"Seph gave me one already."
"Bracelet?"
"It'll break."
"Another ring?"
"I don't know. Earrings even."
"I know! Let's get you some piercings." I touched my virgin ears and gave him an odd look.
"Come on! I'll be there the whole time.I'll save you from anything dangerous."
"but I'm only-"
"Sixteen! A perfect age to start on your wild side! Come on. I promise it won't be bad." I didn't say anything.
"how many?"
"An even number, uh…pick one and it can't be zero."
"Four? Six?" he smiled and pulled my hair back to look at my ears imagining where they would go. One on each side here and here… we'll keep it to four." He stood with a grin. "Aw come on, it's not like I'm saying get a tattoo. You can squeeze my hand if you need to."The condescending look on his face made me bite my lip and stand up abruptly.
"Alright, let's go." He smirked and we walked through the city slowly going into the heart of the city. The longer we walked the more my courage withered. While walking a few people said hi, others squealed and a few starting giggling to each other. A few men seemed to notice the look on my face as my courage dwindled. Zack laugh when he finally noticed. He grabbed my hand lightly and squeezed. I squeezed back and he winced a bit.
"Damn, I forgot you're like as strong as me." He took his hand back shaking it out for blood circulation. "Come on, we're almost there."
"I don't know Zack…" I mumbled as he pulled me by my hand.
"Cloud went! He waltzed in there ready for war." My eyes widened in surprise.
"You took Cloud? Why?" Zack pushed my through a doorway and we walked into a room filled with people. Many of them tattooed harshly. I stared with surprise.
"Hey look Niki, it's our SOLDIER boy, Zack was it?" Zack grinned at them warmly and the crew of four walked up to us. Only one other person was here and he was picking out a tattoo. They were all rather short. Zack and I towered over them. "Whoa, look at you two…" the guy said looking up at me. "How tall are you?"
"How tall are you? I asked back.
"Five feet three inches."
"Five feet ten last time I checked. It might have changed…" I mumbled. I was abnormally tall for my age. The bad part was that I was only going to get taller. By the time I hit my twenties I'd be as tall as Sephiroth Who was over 6 feet tall.
"So tall, and beautiful…" I said nothing as he looked over me from a less than shoulder height. I glanced at Zack who was six feet. It wasn't in our genetics to be this tall, the Mako changed us. "So what are you here for my SOLDIER boy?"
"Today's my friend's birthday. I couldn't decide what to give her, so we decided to get her ears pierced."
"Ah piercings, Niki takes care of that. Tell her where and how many." I jutted his thumb towards the girl and walked over to the man. I smiled at Niki friendlily. She returned it and told me to lay down. As I sat down Zack talked with her about the birthday thing. He walked over and pointed to the places he wanted the piercings to go. She walked over with a marker and put purple dots where the earrings would be. Zack stared at it trying to line them up perfectly in his head. After a couple of minutes, Zack approved and she walked over with a needle. I stared and opened my mouth to instantly protest.
"No, too late. Grab my hand." He put his bronzed hand out for me and I grabbed it scared for my ears. It was silent as I felt it pierce through my skin. I squeezed as the pain hit me. But then I had to wait three times more. She gave me a minute to breathe between them though.
"You are a SOLDIER, you can do this." I bit my lip surprised I was complaining about something like this when I could get bashed up by a behemoth and not even flinch. That made me feel like a loser. But there was something about the simple sharpness of a needle that made me panic. It could pierce through my skin so easily. Even with my enhanced body.
Then it was done and I was told to sit up. When I did the blood pulsed in my ears trying to heal the holes. The ones on my lobe hurt a lot, and I touched my ear to feel at the top of my cartilage the hooped earrings
"That's called a cartilage piercing." I pulled my hair back carefully and stood to look at the mirror in the room. I grinned a bit. "Not so bad right?" I realized then that was still gripping his hand. I blushed a bit and released it with a small squeeze.
"Yeah…"I mumbled staring those Mako infused eyes… They looked just like mine, but there was something different about his that I just loved so much…
I wanted to have something for Evie from Zack that she would never forget. What better than a permanent piercing?
Sorry for the whole Sephiroth thing. It won't happen again. :[ I is ashamed for letting my fangirl take over.