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Chapter Ten After Cloud had gone, the rest of the group started brainstorming how they would get up there too. It wasn't long before Kit realized she could get them up there easily.
Daryl was quite understanding when she introduced him to her friends from Midgar, who were curious to see the parade that was being held for Rufus. "Yeah, just don't tell anyone," he said as the elevator hatch slid shut. "Have a good time." Kit knew he'd be suspicious when none of them came back down, but by then, it would be too late for him to do anything, and he couldn't do anything anyways without admitting he let them up there. She felt bad about leaving him in such a bind, but it was serving a greater good, after all.
Once they'd gotten up top, the next thing was to get disguises. That problem was easily solved, because Shinra had posted some guards at the top of the elevator too. They subdued the low-ranking men easily, and took the uniforms. Kit felt bad about that too, especially as these men were only doing their job. They probably had no idea what their employers were up to, in fact. But again, it was necessary.
As for the others, except for Aeris, they seemed to have no qualms. Barret would have simply shot them all, if Tifa hadn't pointed out that uniforms with bloody bulletholes would be more suspicious than walking around up there in their street clothes would have been. Tifa would have done well in SOLDIER, Kit thought idly.
There weren't quite enough uniforms to go around, unfortunately. They were two short, and Yuffie decided to go without. "So you're Shinra officers who've impressed a girl in town," she suggested. That worked, but Barret couldn't find a uniform large enough to fit him, and he was conspicuous with his gun-arm. He knew he'd figure something out though.
The fun part was trying to dress Red. The face mask hid his muzzle, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get his tail to stay put inside the uniform, much to Aeris and Yuffie's amusement. And on two legs, he walked like a drunk, Yuffie pointed out. It was then that Barret figured out how to disguise his arm - he and Red were drinking buddies, and after a long night of partying, he and Red had to lean on each other to stay upright. It was a convincing act, when Barret pretended to stumble. "Just get us to that ship fast," Red muttered. "This is really embarrassing."
Luckily, everyone in town was watching the parade, and didn't notice them. All the officers were marching, so that left them plenty of chances to get aboard the boat. Cloud still hadn't arrived yet, though, so they watched the parade on a little television in a bar in town. Close to the end of the parade, there was a man marching out of step with the others, fumbling with his gun, and everyone in the bar was laughing at him.
"Hey, wait a minute," Tifa said suddenly. "That's Cloud."
"It is?" Aeris was dubious.
"Yeah. See the way he walks? I can tell it's him."
"Hahaha! What a #%$&head!" Barret roared, which added rather nicely to the illusion of him being drunk.
Aeris was staring at Tifa, strangely. "You can tell it's him by the way he walks?" she asked, and Tifa nodded. "Just how close are you two?"
Tifa looked back at Aeris the same way before answering. "Not very," she shrugged casually. "We grew up together, we're friends, that's all. Why, are you worried?"
"Oh, no," Aeris insisted. "I was just wondering."
Kit smirked to herself. It was so obvious they were both crazy about Cloud, and neither one would admit it. She wondered why they weren't tearing each other's hair out by now. If anyone even so much as looked at Sephiroth, she would...
"We'd better go," Red said suddenly. The others looked at him, puzzled. "You all were so busy laughing at Cloud, you didn't hear what the announcer just said. The parade's almost over, and now Heidegger will be escorting Rufus to the ship. They're two people I certainly don't want to run into, so let's get there fast, before they do."
No one noticed them leaving the bar, it was too loud and crowded. They didn't even notice that Barret and Red had "sobered up" fast. It was only a quick walk to the ship, and they were able to slip past the sailors easily enough, with half of them wearing the Shinra uniforms. Once on board, the rest found sailor suits in the lockers, and even Barret found one in his size this time. Although the sight of him in it made Yuffie giggle until she nearly collapsed. "What?" he bellowed repeatedly, but she couldn't stop laughing to answer. Finally Red told Barret to stop yelling before he attracted attention.
They watched from the loading dock as Rufus and Heidegger boarded, after being saluted by a trio of officers. One of them was obviously Cloud, from the clumsy way he handled his rifle. They had to admit, he had a strong finish though.
They scattered all over the ship after that, trying their best to look as if they were working, though none of them had ever been a part of a ship's crew in their life. Especially not Yuffie, who retreated instantly to a corner where she could be seasick in peace. Kit couldn't help laughing a little at that - a seasick sailor - but once the ship had set sail, she started to feel a little queasy too, and went up on deck to get some air.
Standing by the railing, breathing deeply into the salty ocean breeze, she decided it might make her feel better to take off the mask covering her face. She'd sailed on this same ship before, as a member of SOLDIER, and that was the only difference she could think of.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" a voice behind her said. It was Cloud's voice. He was standing beside her wearing the same uniform.
"Yuffie's seasickness must be catching," Kit said, with a little grimace. "I never used to get seasick myself."
"Want a tranquilizer? I just gave Yuffie one, I think it helped."
"Yeah, I guess." Kit swallowed the pill and smiled gratefully at Cloud. "Maybe it's the uniform. I never liked wearing it." Actually, she had no recollection of wearing it, but since almost all members of SOLDIER started out as Shinra grunts, she must have. Unless her amnesia was blocking out something else... how she really got into SOLDIER...
"Me either. I wondered when I put it on today, how I could have been so proud of it at first, and hated it so much later on."
The tranquilizer was already starting to work, and Kit stared down at the water thoughtfully. Something about Cloud made her a little nervous. Maybe it was just the fact that he'd been SOLDIER too, and if she said something wrong about her time there, or how she joined, he would know instantly. She and Cloud supposedly had too much in common for her to be able to trick him.
"I think I always hated it," she said softly. "But that has nothing to do with anything. Have you found everyone else aboard?"
He shook his head. "That's what I'm trying to do now. I'll be back in a while, when I do. Seeya."
Kit turned her head to watch him run off towards the front of the ship. It wasn't just that he was SOLDIER, something else about him was eerily familiar. She just couldn't put her finger on it.
That was what she was thinking about when the alarm sounded. "Suspicious character found on board! Those not on detail, search the ship! Report when found," was the announcement over the loudspeakers, and everyone scrambled to search.
Aeris and Yuffie came running up from below deck almost immediately. "Where's Cloud?" Aeris asked in a rush. "They didn't get him, did they?"
"I don't think so," said Red as he wobbled over. "He just went past me towards the front of the ship, and there wasn't any commotion up there that I could hear. And my ears are fairly sharp."
Tifa climbed down from the observation deck where she'd been posted. "He's all right, he always is," she assured them.
Just then, Cloud and Barret came running out towards them. "Everyone all right?" Tifa asked at the same time Barret asked "You all right?" They all nodded.
"Everyone's here... right?" said Tifa, looking around.
"Hey, wait," Barret said suddenly. "You don't think that suspicious character is..."
"Sephiroth!?" Aeris squeaked.
"Really?" Tifa asked, incredulous.
Barret glared at them. "How the #&$$ am I supposed to know?"
Everyone was silent, considering the possibility. Kit's heart jumped into her throat. What if it was him? What if they found him, and he wanted a fight? She didn't fear for herself, she knew he wouldn't hurt her, but she didn't want to have to reveal herself in such a cruel way, either. AVALANCHE wasn't the brutal bunch of terrorists she'd believed them to be, after all, and... why did it bother her so to think they might see her as just a spy?
"Let's find out," said Cloud finally.
Red nodded. "It's the most logical thing to do," he reasoned. "Then, who's going to go?"
Yuffie backed away, shaking her head firmly. "N-not me!" she stammered. "I don't even like Sephiroth anyway. And besid... urk..." She made a mad dash for the side of the boat, her face green.
"I'll go," Red said. "Anything to get out of these clothes for awhile."
"Me too," Aeris spoke up. "You'll need me." Tifa glared at her dangerously under the uniform's visor, but Kit doubted Aeris could see.
Cloud nodded, lost in thought. "Sephiroth..." he said absently, then he shook himself and beckoned for Red and Aeris to follow. "All right, let's go." They ran off together down to the lower level, Red shredding the uniform with his teeth as he ran on four legs once more.
Barret made a rumbling noise deep in his throat. "It better not be Sephiroth. If I find out that spiky-hair punk went after Sephiroth without me there to help, well..." He sounded menacing on the surface, but there was a distinct note of uneasiness in his words.
Tifa sat down on the deck looking forlorn. "I just hope he's all right."
Kit's heart was pounding, ignoring the fact she'd just had a tranquilizer not long ago. If it was Sephiroth on board, how could she sit up here and not see him? What if Cloud and the others hurt him, or even... No, they couldn't kill him. They hadn't been able to kill the Midgar Zolom a few days ago.
The others were too wrapped up in their own worries to notice her sneaking away from them, down into the engine room. Cloud, Red, and Aeris were all standing before someone who was most certainly not Sephiroth, and she breathed a sigh of relief. But it turned to a gasp as the engineer toppled over, dead, and the top of a familiar head began to rise from the floor, fixing them with a cold aquamarine stare.
It was him. Now what should she do?
He was staring directly into Cloud's eyes, it looked like. "Who are you?" he asked curiously.
Cloud answered something that Kit couldn't make out, and Sephiroth seemed to think it was funny. "The time... is now," he said, and began to rise into the air, clutching something close to him. Something fell as he zoomed upwards through the ceiling, and Kit heard Aeris' frightened yelp when that thing began to change, to grow... it became a deformed figure whose head almost reached the ceiling.
At least they hadn't had to fight Sephiroth, Kit thought, and the thought was comforting somehow. Whatever this was, it was a test of their strength. No matter what her personal agenda was, if they could kill this, it meant they were a threat to Sephiroth. If it killed them, it meant his plans would most likely succeed. But then, she wasn't certain how sure she was she wanted them to succeed. She knew he intended a lot of destruction, but she might be able to persuade him to find a more peaceful way to the Promised Land. Maybe.
The battle raged below, and soon Cloud and his friends had the upper hand. Cloud was slashing the thing with his sword, Red fought it literally tooth and nail, and Aeris healed them with her spells, sneaking in a lightning spell every now and then. Not much time had passed before the thing gave a shriek and shriveled up again.
So they were formidable opponents. Sephiroth had been right after all. Before they could look up and see her on the catwalk above them, she went back on deck. No one had noticed her absence, and that was just fine.
When Cloud and the others came back up, Barret and Tifa immediately clamored to know what had happened. Cloud told them it was Sephiroth, but didn't want to say more at the moment. The boat was preparing to dock pretty soon, and they'd better look busy.
Once the boat had docked, and they were getting off at the port of Costa Del Sol, Cloud explained. "He asked me who I was," he said, scratching his head. "He knows who I am. Or he should. Where has he been these last five years?"
Tifa was staring at him with a look of concern mixed with fear. "What is it?" he asked.
She hesitated before answering, and when she did, her voice quivered a little. "Even we don't remember what ultimately happened at Nibelheim. I think it's important that we know. But we don't."
"That ain't what's important," Barret put in. "What's important is the planet. It don't matter what happened five years ago - this is now."
Red nodded his agreement. "Barret's right. Before you start worrying about the past, we'd better make sure we have a future."
To Chapter Eleven. To the intro. That means it's mine, not yours! |
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