Yuffie happily bounced on the bed. "Oooh! It feels so good to be able to be on this ship!" The young ninja jumped off her bed and did a cartwheel.
"I’m glad you feel better…" Lyria said, there was a rather wistful note about the young doctor’s voice. After firmly admonishing Cid for attempting to clean the scratches on his back with beer, she’d bandaged the pilot up and headed to bed.
"You sound sorta down…you wanna talk about it?" Yuffie managed to stand still and sat down on the edge of Lyria’s bed, where she was curled up with a book in her lap.
"I don’t know…"
"Well…if you need cheerin’ up…I’ll invite Tifa and Shera in here! We’ll have like a girl’s night! It’ll be so awesome! It’s the least I can do…after you gave me those pills…" Yuffie looked at Lyria, eyes sparkling with something bordering hero worship.
"I’m not sure, Yuffie…" Lyria looked to the wall that their room shared with Vincent’s. "We shouldn’t make too much noise…"
"We can go up to Tifa’s room, we’ll kick Cloud out. There are four of us, so we can handle him…"
"Oh…all right…" Lyria abandoned her book; she hadn’t really been interested in reading anyway, and followed Yuffie to the door. Yuffie wound her way through the hallways and up a flight of stairs to Shera and Cid’s room.
"Hey! Shera!" Yuffie yelled. "Come on out! Me an’ Lyria wanna talk to ya’! Unless o’ course, you and Cid are in the middle of each other or somethin’…then we’re just gonna leave…"
"Hello Yuffie…" Shera sighed, opening the door. "What’s the matter?"
"Lyria’s just feelin’ a little down…I figured we could cheer her up. We’re goin’ upstairs to kick Cloud outta Tifa’s room."
"Technically, they share the room…I’d love to join you, just let me tell Cid…" Shera turned and called softly to her sleeping fiancée. "Cid?"
Cid was snoring loudly and didn’t answer.
"Cid!" Shera’s voice was a little louder this time.
Yuffie walked into the room and bent down next to Cid. "HEY CID! WAKE UP YA’ LAZY OLD FART!"
"What the hell?" Cid mumbled sleepily. "Yuffie? Get the hell outta my room…hell, can’t a guy get any sleep?"
"Shera’s comin’ up with us to Tifa’s room ‘cuz we’re havin’ a slumber party."
"G’night Shera, see you in the morning…" Cid rolled over and resumed his snoring.
"Have a good sleep," Shera said, grabbing her housecoat and following Yuffie out the door.
"Next stop: Tifa’s room!" Yuffie crooned, dashing down to the end of the hallway. "Now, this is the end of the line, but we gotta get Cloud out…"
Shera giggled and Lyria smiled. "Ok, Yuffie, you knock on the door…"
Yuffie banged her knuckles sharply on the wood and Lyria called out. "Tifa? Can I come in?"
"Sure, Lyria, me and Cloud were just getting settled in for bed…"
Yuffie burst into the room and jumped on the bed. "Hiya Tifa! We’re having a slumber party and we wanna use your room ‘cuz we can’t use me an’ Lyria’s ‘cuz we don’t wanna wake Vincent…" The young ninja was wearing a pair of shorts and a tanktop with a couple shuriken tucked in her ever-present headband.
Tifa giggled. "Sounds like a great idea…I guess you want us to kick Cloud out."
"Yup," Shera said, sitting down on the bed and making herself comfortable.
"We don’t necessarily have to kick him out…" Tifa grinned evilly. "If he stayed we could paint his nails…"
"Not happening, ladies," Cloud said firmly, scooping up his pillow and heading for the door. "Where should I sleep?"
"You can go back to me and Lyria’s room," Yuffie instructed.
"Gosh, thanks. I hope you four have enjoyed usurping my room and my wife…"
"Enough with the chitchat, get out already." Yuffie pushed Cloud out the door. "G’night, spike."
"What did you just…" Cloud was cut off as Yuffie slammed the door in his face.
"So…whaddaya guys…I mean, gals wanna talk about? Let’s not forget why we’re all here, which is to cheer Lyria up…" Yuffie flopped down on the bed next to Shera.
"What’s the matter Lyria?" Tifa asked, curling up on the bed with her back to the wall.
"I’m…confused…Tifa, what did it feel like when you first told Cloud you loved him?"
Tifa sighed dreamily. "It was heaven…I’d had these feelings for him for years, but I never realized what they were so strong…and when I told him, he said he felt the same way and we’ve been happy ever since…"
"What about you and Cid, Shera?"
"I liked Cid right off, when I first met him. He just had such a warm heart and free spirit. I couldn’t help myself. That’s why I was prepared to give up everything so he could get to space, I would have died in that engine room, but I couldn’t stand the thought of crushing all the dreams the man I loved had worked so hard to accomplish. I was really scared, but I think I knew in my heart that Cid would come through for me."
"You guys all knew right off? That it was the real thing?"
"I had my doubts from time to time, but deep down I was always sure of it…Why are you asking, Lyria?" Tifa said, cocking her head at the young woman.
"I think I know…" Shera looked at Lyria curiously. "Did you tell him?"
Lyria nodded. "I don’t know how it slipped out…I just…I came into his room and he had his gun. I knew what he was thinking…he said he didn’t want to kill any more people and that he would end this…I couldn’t handle it. It dawned on me how much I care about him, even if we barely know each other. I didn’t want to lose him…there was so much more I wanted to find out. So…so I told him how I felt…"
By now Tifa had caught on and she prompted Lyria for more answers, "And?"
"That’s it…"
"What do you mean ‘that’s it’? Wasn’t there anything else? Did you hug? Or kiss?" Shera persisted.
"Well, yeah, but…I think it was just because I was caught up in my fear of losing him forever and he was confused and neither of us really knew what we were doing."
"Lyria there must have been more to it than that! Give me details, did he do anything?" Tifa asked intently.
"Like what?"
"Did he just stand there and let you hug him? Or did he hug you back?"
"Well…I started crying and then he started stroking my hair…"
"Ohhh…" Shera sighed. "I think you may be on to something, honey."
"Really?"
"Of course!"
"You don’t think he was doing it just because he was confused and he didn’t want to hurt my feelings?"
"Nuh uh. If he was confused he wouldn’t have done anything," Tifa said.
"But…does this mean he feels the same as I do?"
"Well, he certainly doesn’t hate you."
"I don’t know if I can face him again…I’m so embarrassed that I let my feelings go like that…"
"It’ll be awkward, especially because we’re on our way to Kalm tomorrow to pick up Barret…" Tifa agreed.
"Why will that cause a problem?"
"It’s gonna be getting more and more crowded on this ship. Barret’ll probably end up bunking with Vincent, ‘cuz he’s probably gonna be able to handle Chaos better than anyone else will, just in case he changes…" Tifa said.
"And I moved into your room, so it’s not really private in there anymore…" Yuffie added.
"Maybe you should lie low for a while, until we get this whole thing straightened out and get the both of you back to Nibelheim," Shera suggested.
"That seems so far off though…" Lyria murmured. "Where are we going after Kalm?"
"Midgar. We have to get to ShinRa headquarters to find Hojo’s old notes and this control device."
"How’re we supposed to get into ShinRa headquarters? They’ve got tight security…"
"We aren’t sure yet. We might be getting inside help though, from a man named Reeve who used to work with us through a mechanical cat and a big stuffed moogle."
"Will wonders never cease?" Lyria said sarcastically. "I actually think I might go back to bed…I’ve got a lot to think about…"
"Me too," Yuffie agreed. "This is all making my head hurt…"
"I think I’ll go back with Cid, I hope he kept the bed warm."
"Could you send Cloud up when you get back to your room? I hate to sleep alone…"
"Sure. Good night guys, thanks for listening…"
--------------------------------------------
"Hey, Vincent," Cloud said, climbing onto the deck of the Highwind. "Are you sure you should be up?"
"I couldn’t sleep."
"Oh. I know that feeling." Cloud joined Vincent at the railing. "Nice night, huh?"
"I suppose…"
"Hard to believe that only two years ago Meteor was hanging up there, ready to fall and kill everyone…"
"Yeah…What was it like to be controlled by Sephiroth, Cloud? What did it feel like knowing that any moment you could lose control and…hurt someone?"
"It was frightening, but I guess you understand because you’re sorta going through the same thing, huh?" Cloud was puzzled at Vincent’s tone; it no longer seemed as cold and distant as it usually was. He thought he could hear a note of confusion. For once it almost showed that Vincent was little more than a young man, lost and alone in a game other people had decided to play with his life.
"Yeah…"
"Don’t worry about it, we’ll pull through. We always manage it."
"I wish I had your faith in life."
"Blind stupidity is probably more accurate than faith. Too many hairspray fumes over the years." Cloud pointed at his head.
To his extreme surprise Vincent smiled slightly. "Whatever it is, I envy you."
"I have a lot of people who support me…you do too, I just don’t know that you realize it yet."
"I may be starting to."
--------------------------------------------
Lyria crawled under the blankets of her still made bed. Apparently Cloud hadn’t decided to go to sleep right away and Lyria had met him coming up the stairs and heading back to his room. Lyria felt a stab of jealousy toward Tifa. "I hate to sleep alone…well; I always sleep alone, so this is no change for me…" She remembered Shera’s words. "I hope Cid kept the bed warm…" Lyria shivered at the feeling of her own cold sheets and curled up tightly to try and warm up. Yuffie was snoring, oblivious to any of the deeper thoughts that Lyria might have been having.