--May 7th, 2019 – The Turks and Aeris' Lost Love--
A big red buggy. A big red buggy that's gonna get us around. A big red buggy that I can probably steal! Well, it's a good idea, isn't it? Probably not, since Wutai isn't on this continent. We were so relieved when Cloud showed up with this buggy outside the Desert Prison. Now we don't have to put up with people staring at us… or… mostly our wallets.
Right now, we're taking a little time off from driving to rest. We've been through a lot in just a few hours. Across the river separating the Gold Saucer Area from the rest of the continent, there's a village in the middle of the forest. It's called Gonada… Gon… Something… Oh, Gongaga. It's pretty small. I bet it was bigger. You know, before they built the Mako Reactor.
Cloud got a tip from the Gold Saucer Muscular Dio Guy that Sephiroth was heading towards Gongaga, so we went there. We left Red, and Cait behind to look after the buggy. As soon as we entered the forest, we saw the Turks! Well, I never saw them before now, but the rest of the group explained to me that they were some sort of Secret Society for Shinra, and that they were looking for Cloud and the guys. one of them's bald, and the other's… well, cute. I think he's cute. Not as cute as Cloud, though. Who cares… the cute Turk works for Shinra, so he isn't cool anymore.
We saw them talking, so we hid behind some bushes. They were talking about some stuff… Weird stuff. Weird girl-talk stuff. They sounded like a couple of 11-year-old girls.
The Not-So-Cute-Anymore-Turk, Reno, was asking the bald Turk, Rude, "Hey, Rude. Who do you like?"
Rude looked down. He looked like he was getting embarrassed, as if he's never admitted that he ever liked a girl before.
Reno continued, getting a little annoyed (any grown person would, but then again, he was asking the grade school questions), "What are you getting so embarrassed about? Come on! Who do you like?"
Rude took very long to answer, as if he was ashamed of what he was going to say. He stiffened a little, then looked around. Finally, as if checking if the coast is clear, he said, in a deep voice, "…Tifa."
I started to giggle, but Tifa put her hand over my mouth. She was blushing a little, but I knew the blushing didn't come out of the fact that she felt flattered. It was out of sheer embarrassment. She put her hand over Aeris' mouth too. Oh, come on, it was funny! Even CLOUD thinks it's funny. Barret began to snort.
Reno looked shocked. "Hmm… That's a tough one," he said, "But… poor Elena! She… You…" It looked like he was going to write a book or direct a movie about the failed romance.
Rude didn't seem to care. "No, she likes Tseng."
Reno was behaving like a little gossip queen who was out of the loop for a couple of months, and who was sorry that he missed some good juicy gossip. "I never knew that!" he exclaimed, his eyes wide open, "But… you know," he leaned forward, "Tseng likes that Ancient."
Now it was Tifa's turn to giggle. Aeris covered Tifa's mouth with her hand.
Cloud frowned, "I wonder why they're wasting time here, talking about who likes who… writing novels…"
Barret said, "Eh, who cares? They're giving us a good show."
A high-pitched, thoroughly annoying voice spoke from behind us… well, actually yelled, "It's so stupid!" We jumped and turned around. "They always talk about who they like or don't like, but Tseng is different." Then, looking at us, as if seeing us for the first time (I guess she talks to herself a lot or something), she yelled at Reno and Rude, "Ah! Oh no! They're here! They're really here!"
Cloud softly repeated, "Really here? Okay, who the hell tipped them off?" He readied his sword.
Barret answered, "A spy, no doubt…"
Reno looked at us, then said to himself, "Hmm… Then it's time." He looked at Rude and then glanced over at Tifa. "Rude, don't go easy on them, even though they're girls."
Rude also glanced at Tifa… more like… looked over her body more than a few times. "Don't worry. I'll do my job."
The blonde-haired women called Elena saluted. "Then we're counting on you! I'll report to Tseng!" Then with a smile, she ran up the path and then out of sight.
Reno shook his head, and then looked over at Cloud. "Aye, it's been a while." He shot a bolt out of his rod which connected with a frog. The frog was killed instantly. With a smirk on his face, he said, pointing his rod straight at Cloud's heart, "Payback time for what you did in Sector Seven."
Cloud looked disgusted. "Out of our way!" he yelled.
Barret shoved us girls back, telling us to stay out of the fight. Well… I guess five against two is a little unfair. I mean, I've never exactly killed a human in their right mind before.
Reno brought his rod to the ready, with Rude at his side, fists clenched, ready for action.
"I don't like being taken for a fool," Reno said, frowning.
"That's as far as you go," Rude added.
Cloud and Barret charged forward, each meeting their own opponent. Cloud and Reno. Barret and Rude. Cloud lunged forward aiming the tip of his sword of Reno's heart. Reno blocked it with his rod, and countered with an electric shock attack, coupled together with jabbing the sharp end of his rod into Cloud's right arm. Cloud cried out loud in pain, blood steadily seeping down his arm.
Oh gawd, Cloud! Oh, he's hurt! But he told us not to get involved…
Cloud quickly took out a Potion, drank it down, and then defended against Reno's next attack.
Barret and Rude seemed to be having fun. Rude was punching away at Barret, and landing almost all of his punches (since Barret's size prevents him from moving around fast). Barret counterattacked with throwing a grenade at Rude, impairing Rude's leg. Rude couldn't get up after that, so he cast a Fire spell. He sneaked away while the flames were licking away at Barret. I think he looked at his watch too…
Reno, seeing that Rude retreated, clashed his rod against Cloud's Hardedge. He clenched his teeth, and then said, "We may be retreating…" He leaped backwards, far away from Cloud's sword. "But we're still victorious!" With that, he ran away.
Aeris, Tifa and I ran forward to quickly give Hi-Potions to and cast Cure spells on Barret and Cloud, who were now sitting on the ground resting. I tended to Cloud's hurt arm, wrapping some cloth around the wound.
Tifa turned in the direction where the Turks ran. She frowned. "Hey, something seems wrong...you know, like they knew we were coming."
Cloud looked up at her and said, "So you picked it up too, huh? I think they followed us… but there weren't any signs of it. Wait…" He took some time to think a little. "Wouldn't that mean…?"
That they were spying on us? How? Maybe it's that weird thing. That Cait Sith thing… I might be wrong, but he seems a little suspicious to me. I'm a ninja. I know these things.
Barret looked startled. "A spy?" He questioned, "No… no way. That can't be possible."
"We should consider it. Considering they're still after me," Aeris said quietly.
Cloud shook his head and got up. "I don't even want to think there's a spy," he said, then nodding, "I trust everyone."
I know, I should feel guilty now. He trusts everyone. And I'm planning to break that trust. No, he'll understand! I'll tell him that it's for Wutai. He'll be nice to me if he understands, right? I know he will. He's Cloud! He's a nice guy. Yup, he'll understand.
When Barret and Cloud were ready to go again, we walked to where that Elena chick went. A little ways more into the forest, we found a destroyed Mako Reactor. That means there must be a town around here somewhere. Or remains of one. We were checking out the reactor, and I thought I saw a glint inside the broken reactor. I was about to tell the others when I heard a helicopter. We ran around behind the reactor so no one could see us. Some other blonde-haired chick in a low-cut red dress and red high-heels came into view, and she was with another Turk. I guess this was Tseng. I think I saw out of the corner of my eye Aeris shrinking further and further back behind the reactor. Cloud mentioned that the woman was Scarlet, head of Shinra Weapon Development. She doesn't look like it.
Scarlet inspected the area I did before. She didn't look satisfied. "Hmph! This isn't any good either. You only get junky materia from junky reactors. This reactor's a failure. What I'm looking for is big, large, huge materia. You seen any?" She asked, turning to Tseng.
Big, large, huge materia? Oh wouldn't that be cool? Then Wutai would be restored forever! We'd have the glory of having the largest materia ever! And then, nations will begin treating us like equals instead of tour guides.
Tseng shook his head and replied, "No, I haven't seen any, but I'll get on it right away."
Scarlet looked satisfied. "You know, with that pale-faced Hojo gone, the Weapon Development's been getting a bigger budget."
Tseng didn't seem to care, and just to humor her, he wearily said, "I envy them."
Scarlet seems like a woman who's full of herself, thinking of herself. "But… if we make the perfect weapon, could that stupid Heidegger even use it?" she asked.
When Tseng didn't answer, Scarlet then said, "Oh… sorry! I forgot Heidegger was your boss!" And then she laughed. Some weird stupid screechy laugh that sounded like 'Kya ha ha'. She gestured to the guy flying the helicopter, and then told Tseng that they were leaving.
When they left, I couldn't help myself. I went to check the place Scarlet checked, and I found a Summon materia. I checked the crystal, and it had the spirit of the Titan inside it. I gave it to Cloud, who was thinking to himself. He's probably worried about that weapon that Scarlet woman was talking about. He shouldn't worry. He has me to help him break it up.
We walked out of that area, and through the forest some more. We came across a… well… it's a broken village. There wasn't much there. We decided to separate and walk around a bit. Cloud, Aeris and Tifa went into a house at the bottom-right side of the village. I found out that the reactor was destroyed, and it took some of Gongaga with it. Some people died of Mako poisoning. There are people who live here, but they look as if they had the life sucked out of them or something. They look like they would never be happy again.
Aeris and Tifa came running out of the house they were in before, with Cloud following. The two girls were on opposite sides of the village. Did they have an argument or something? I don't think they'd fight much. Well, unless it came to Cloud. They think I don't know, but I do! I'm not a little kid. Cloud talked to both of them silently, and they seemed cheered up enough. We came together in the centre of the village and decided to leave. The village didn't really have much to offer. I even felt so sorry for them that I decided not to steal from the materia salesperson! Gee, I wonder if I'm changing a little.
On the way out, we found a Deathblow materia. Cloud gave it to me with a smile, and I smiled back. He's so nice and so cute… I'll treasure the materia forever!
I asked Tifa about what happened in that house before. She said it was absolutely nothing, and said that I should be concerned with Aeris, since it mostly concerned her. I think she's still hiding something, though.
I asked Aeris about what happened before I started to write in my diary. It's so sad! She said she met her long lost boyfriend's parents in that house. They asked her tons of questions, like if she was still his girlfriend, and if he's happy, and if he's having a wonderful time in the ranks of SOLDIER. His name was Zack, and he was also a First Class SOLDIER. Aeris looked a little upset, but she kept talking. She was happy with Zack, that they did many things together like shopping in Sector 6, planting flowers together, trying to have sparring matches. She said that he stopped writing to her five years ago. I listened to her intensely, aware that this can probably happen to me. She cried for weeks after she didn't get any letters from him or didn't see him. Her mom told her that she should move on, that maybe he died during a mission. It took time for her to accept that. She isn't completely over it, but she won't forget him. He was her first boyfriend, after all.
After she finished, she told me that she was glad that I stuck around to listen to her memories. She said that no one really forgets their first love. She said one day I'll truly understand what it feels like to be in love. With that, she went to rest in the buggy.
I think I know what it's like. Not really in love, but to feel something for a boy. I wonder if it's possible for Cloud and me. I know it's wishful thinking, but no one can stop me from liking him, right? When Wutai has respect again, maybe it'll work out. Anyway, I think we're going again. We'll stop at Nibelheim for a rest. That's Cloud and Tifa's hometown. I wonder what it's like?
Barret's saying something about 'getting my scrawny little ninja butt into the buggy'. I wonder if Cloud'll let me drive?
A/N: Gets down on her knees and begs for forgiveness Sorry! I'm just so busy or… well, lazy… lately. Busy during school, lazy during summer. I'm sorry. With choir, possible music lessons, Kumon math and my last year of high school waiting for me, I won't have lots of time to work on this. I just felt so guilty this week, so I decided to cook this up last night. I want to continue working on this, so bear with me, please! Just thank you so much, to those who were waiting for me to write another chapter, and emailing me to keep writing the fic. I'll try to come up with another chapter shortly after school starts again, but no promises. Thank you very much.
Dark Schala