Chapter 9
The sky cleared overnight, and Aeris saw the sun rise for only the second time the next morning. The train could never get her onto the plate early enough to see it, and she doubted it would have been as spectacular a sight as from above the main square in Kalm.
Unexpectedly, Red chose to join her. He said it was because Barret's snoring kept him up anyway, but she suspected he wanted to see the sunrise, too. It had probably been a while.
Color blossomed into the sky, catching the few remaining clouds and painting them in a rosy hue. The sun broke above the walls of Kalm, bright and clear. In spite of everything, her heart felt light, and she wished she could share the feeling with Tifa. With all of them. The events of the past few days weighed on them so heavily.
Aeris.
Mom! she thought in surprise, because Tifa was right; they weren't far from Midgar, and her mother's voice felt like it came to her across a great distance.
I was worried, Ifalna said. Vague impressions accompanied the words as though her mother had forgotten how to shape them. The lab. The Professor. Danger.
My new friends got me out, said Aeris. They're really incredible people.
A warmth, like smiling. You're finally under the sky.
Yes. I think I'm starting to hear the Planet.
Listen well. There will be much to learn now.
I know. All of a sudden I feel like there's so much I don't know about myself.
The worry returned. There's a great danger. He'll try to deceive you, but he isn't one of us.
What do you mean?
But the connection was fading again. Aeris was left the thought of going north, but no understanding of why, what her mother was trying to tell her.
"Are you all right, Aeris?" Red asked her.
She gave herself a shake and smiled at him. "Yes, I'm fine." Without thinking, she reached out to pet him on the head, but she quickly drew her hand back. "Oh! I'm sorry, I should have asked. Your fur just looks so soft. Is it all right?"
Red looked at her for a long moment and then slowly blinked his one eye. "I suppose," he said. "But don't tug."
"Of course not," she said, and resumed stroking his fur. "You know, are you really sure you want us to keep calling you 'Red,' like the Professor did?"
"I'm sure."
"Why?"
He made a low noise in his throat. "I find it more comfortable," he said, "than sharing with strangers a name that is precious to me."
Aeris frowned. "I didn't really think we were strangers at this point."
"I am grateful to you all for helping me escape," he conceded, "but I only intend to journey with you until I can return to my homeland. Shinra and Sephiroth... those are the concerns of two-legged things."
Aeris was disappointed, but she nodded. "I understand. You must have had a rough time of it."
Red didn't respond except to close his eye in acknowledgment. Aeris certainly wasn't going to press him about it. The less she dwelt on her time in that place, the better.
Across the square, the door to the inn opened, and Aeris perked up eagerly. Jessie stepped out--not quite who she was hoping for, but a welcome face nonetheless. Jessie looked around, and Aeris waved to catch her attention.
As Jessie started across the square to join them, Red shifted away, and Aeris gathered that he'd rather no one else know he'd let her pet him. She gave his head a final pat and settled her hands in her lap.
"Morning, Aeris," said Jessie as she reached them. "Red."
"Good morning," Aeris replied, while Red gave a disinterested nod. "Did you sleep well?"
Jessie nodded. "I feel like I'm good and caught up now. Ready to be out and about again."
"Do we have plans today?" Aeris wondered.
"Gotta do a little shopping. We need some supplies for the road, and... we can't keep wearing borrowed clothes forever, I guess." She plucked at the end of her sleeve--Biggs's sleeve. Aeris didn't remark on it.
"Does that mean Tifa's joining us?" she asked instead.
"Yeah, in a bit. She wanted to talk to the innkeeper about something first."
Aeris nodded and looked to Red. "Did you need anything? I know it's dumb, but they'll probably make a fuss over you being in the shops, too."
Red swished his tail. "I can't think of anything."
"All right. Let me know if you do." She picked herself up off the ledge and went with Jessie to scout out the nearby shops.
"What do you make of him?" Jessie asked, throwing a look over her shoulder.
"I don't think he's had the best experience with humans," Aeris said. "It's a shame. He seems like someone I'd like to get to know."
Jessie shrugged. "I don't know if I'd go that far, but I guess he's been helpful."
"You'd be grumpy, too, if people kept mistaking you for a pet."
"Fair enough."
It was still early, and with the exception of the weapons store, most of the shops weren't open yet. They stopped outside of it to wait for Tifa, who had yet to emerge from the inn.
"So," said Aeris, "while it's just the two of us, I wanted to ask you about Tifa."
"What about her?" Jessie asked. "We just about got her life story yesterday."
"Only a part of it. A pretty big, life-changing part, but still just a part. Anyway, I was interested in something a little more... mundane. Like, has she ever had a boyfriend?"
Jessie smirked, throwing her a knowing look. "Or a girlfriend?"
Aeris didn't see any reason to be embarrassed about it. "Yes, that sort of thing."
"Well, not that I know of," Jessie admitted. "But she's sure never shown much interest in men."
"That's promising, but it doesn't mean she's interested in women either."
"Tifa might not be as obvious about it as us heart-on-our-sleeve types, but from what I can tell she seems like she's into it. She just might not be ready to admit it yet."
"So I should take it slow," Aeris concluded.
"No, no," Jessie said. "I meant you're going to have to make the first move. I say be bold. I mean, the lives we lead, there's never a 'right time' for anything. You just have to go for it."
"You're right. You never know what's going to happen." Aeris smiled. "I appreciate the encouragement."
"Of course. You both deserve it, and this way I get to live vicariously through Tifa's love life."
"Hmm. Well, now I'm going to have to think about setting you up with someone."
"In that case, I like the quiet, broody types," Jessie confided with a wink.
Aeris laughed. "That's unexpected, but I'll keep it in mind."
"Look, here's Tifa," Jessie said, pointing. Sure enough, Tifa had come out of the inn, and she was already headed in their direction. She had a brusque, confident sort of stride, but Aeris wondered if she realized how gorgeous she was. She made even that borrowed work shirt and trousers look good.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," she said as she joined them.
Jessie shrugged. "No big deal. This is the only place that's open yet anyway." They went on inside, and Jessie asked, "So what was it you wanted to ask the innkeeper?"
"Oh, I was hoping to use their kitchen, for when Wedge gets here."
"You know he doesn't actually need your cooking to survive."
Tifa laughed, and it was good to hear it, after yesterday. "I know that," she said. "I just thought it would be nice to make us all a meal together, before we move on."
Jessie nodded in understanding. "Yeah. That's a good idea."
"So did they say yes?" Aeris asked.
"Oh. Yes. It took a little convincing since she thinks we're all weirdos, but I pointed out that we're keeping the room clean and our 'dog' has been very well-behaved, and it turns out the cook's fine with it."
"That's good."
They'd both been absent-mindedly following Jessie through the store, and she glanced back at them. "Hey, you know I'm only here to check out the things that go boom, and I don't think that's either of your jam. Why don't you look for a new staff, Aeris?"
"Oh." Aeris turned, looking around the store. "I guess you're right. Even if I'm not very good, it is the only thing I've had any practice with."
"Maybe Tifa could give you some pointers," Jessie suggested.
Tifa had located the display of staves, but she looked over in confusion. "What? Why me?"
"You are the martial artist."
"Yes, but I've never trained much with staves..."
"'Not much' is better than not at all," Aeris pointed out. "I'll bet you can still show me a thing or two. Or you could teach me how to fight like you," she added, putting her fists up in imitation of Tifa's fighting stance.
Tifa regarded her in amusement, saying nothing.
"I could get buff," Aeris insisted.
"We'll work on it," Tifa said. She turned back to the staves, picking one up and hefting it. "In the meantime, you should have something you're familiar with. Besides, these are good staves. They must make them with metal out of the mythril mines, see how lightweight that is?"
Aeris took the staff as Tifa handed it to her. It did feel lighter than the one she'd had in Midgar, but not in any way flimsy. "That does feel nice," she said.
"Well, I can at least tell you you should have your hands farther apart," Tifa observed.
"Oh?" Aeris knew what she meant, but she pretended not to, because the next thing Tifa did was take her hands and move them herself. Behind Tifa's back, Jessie gave Aeris a thumbs up.
"Thanks," Aeris said.
Besides the staff, they restocked Jessie's supply of grenades and picked up some ammo for Barret. While they were waiting for the rest of the stores to open, they took everything back to the inn, so they wouldn't be doing the rest of their shopping armed to the teeth.
"How are we paying for all of this anyway?" Aeris asked as they headed back out. "I don't know about you two, but they confiscated all my gil back at Shinra headquarters."
"Oh, they took ours, too," Jessie said, "but Barret reclaimed it. Plus a little extra. I guess they weren't doing a good job separating what belonged to which detainee."
"That doesn't exactly feel right... But I guess it's better we have it than the Shinra."
"Right. We'll put it to good use."
Of course, the use they were putting it to now was clothes shopping, which was something Aeris hadn't gotten to do in a while. As an avid people-watcher, she could recognize that the styles here were a season or two behind Midgar chic, but she'd never been able to keep up with that anyway.
Tifa and Jessie didn't seem any more or less enthused than when they had been looking at weapons, which Aeris thought was a shame because this was undoubtedly the more fun activity. She picked up an off-the-shoulder blouse that she was sure would look stunning on Tifa.
"What do you think?" she asked.
"Cute," said Tifa, "but I think we should stick to the basics right now."
Aeris pouted. Maybe she'd get it for herself. "Come on," she said, "don't you ever like to show off a little?"
"Sure. But I'm not a teenager anymore. If we've got a lot of mountain hiking in our future, I want something practical."
"And how old are you?"
"Twenty."
Aeris nodded. "So, by 'not a teenager anymore,' you mean, until a few months ago you were a teenager."
Tifa paused, having just replaced a pair of pants on the rack. "...yes," she admitted. "Jessie, did you say something?"
"Wasn't me."
"The birthday card on your fridge," Aeris said. "I didn't think it could be that old."
Tifa scratched her head. "Well, you got me, I guess. But you can't be that much older."
"I don't know. You can gain a lot of emotional maturity in two years," Aeris said, and Jessie started laughing.
"You two are hilarious," she said. "You're both just kids."
"I don't know about that..." Aeris said.
"Trust me. When you make it into your thirties, you'll see it."
Aeris thought about it for a minute. "Well, if we're kids, then we should have some fun." She pushed the blouse at Tifa. "You should at least try it on."
Tifa tossed a pair of pants back at her. "Same to you," she said.
Aeris wasn't wild about pants... but Tifa had a point about them being more practical for hiking. Aeris was just hoping she could achieve cute and practical at the same time.
In the end she wasn't able to persuade Tifa to buy the blouse, but Tifa left the store in a tank top that exposed her arms again, and with biceps like those, Aeris didn't really have any room to complain.
"All right," said Jessie, "why don't I take the rest of this stuff back to the inn, and you two take what we have left and check out the materia?"
"You know more about materia than I do, Jessie," Tifa said in confusion.
"Yeah, but I'm not a natural like Aeris. Besides, I want to check up on Barret. He's got to be finished cleaning his gun arm by now, and the new President Rufus is supposed to be giving a speech on TV this morning... We don't want a repeat of that incident, especially after you just got done convincing them we're model guests."
Tifa nodded. "Good idea. We'll meet you back there."
Jessie piled all of their clothes in her arms, gave Aeris a quick wink, and headed for the inn. Aeris couldn't have asked for a better wingman.
"What incident was she talking about?" she wondered as they entered the materia store.
"Oh... We used to have this outdoor television near the bar. President Shinra was giving one of his speeches one time, and Barret shot up the TV."
"That's pretty intense," Aeris said. "But you know, I always hated his speeches, too."
"Yeah. I'm only sorry I missed my chance to slug him in the face."
"There's always Rufus," Aeris suggested.
Tifa nodded thoughtfully. "There's always Rufus," she agreed.
Aeris walked up to look at the display case of materia, but though she could sense the magic they channelled, she wasn't really paying attention.
"So when do you think Wedge and my mom will get here with Marlene?" she asked.
"I don't know," Tifa said. She was eyeing the materia skeptically, as though trying to suss out what any of it was even for. "Even if Elmyra found someone to heal him, they'll be coming on foot, and I don't see them covering that much ground in a day. Maybe sometime tomorrow, at the earliest."
"I guess we have plenty of time, then," Aeris concluded.
"I guess so. Did you want to work on your fighting technique later?"
Aeris leaned in to catch Tifa's eye. "Actually," she said, "how would you feel about going on a date with me?"
Tifa straightened up, her cheeks pinking. "What?"
Behind her, the shop clerks exchanged glances and then made a very obvious pretense of not paying any attention.
"You know, a date," said Aeris. "You and me, doing something romantic."
"I, uh..."
Clearly the question had caught her by surprise, even though Aeris felt she had been fairly overt about her interest. Tifa's mouth worked, and there was a hint of a smile that made Aeris think she was going to say yes, but then a shadow came over her expression, and her brow furrowed.
"I don't know," Tifa said. "I don't think I'd feel right, going on a date at a time like this."
Aeris tried to hide her disappointment. Part of her wanted to bring up Jessie's point about there never being a right time, but if this was how Tifa felt about it, then she had to respect it. Besides, it wasn't an outright no. "But, you are interested?" she asked.
"Um." Tifa tucked her hair back behind her ear, which was a really cute nervous tick that Aeris was noticing she had. "Yes? Yes. I'm interested."
Aeris smiled. "All right. Then I'll just owe you one."
"Owe me?"
"You did rescue me and all."
Tifa gave her a wry look. "Are you going to go out with Barret and Jessie, too?"
"Well, no. This is a special, Tifa-only offer."
"You know, it's funny. I always imagined someone would rescue me, and then I'd..." Tifa trailed off, blushed, and cleared her throat. "I feel like I need to be honest with you, I've never been on a date before."
Later, Aeris would have to learn more about that fantasy of hers. "I find it hard to believe that no one's ever asked you before, so I'm going to assume no one ever made the cut."
"Well..." Tifa fidgeted with her hair again. "No woman's ever asked me before."
"I see."
"I guess you've dated though?"
"Oh, sure. Not a lot. It's always been a little hard for me to get close to people."
"I can understand that," Tifa said. Now that they were talking about the general concept of dating, rather than the specifics of them dating each other, she seemed to be relaxing again. That was good.
"You have some really good friends, though, Tifa. I admit, I'm a little envious."
"They're your friends now, too," Tifa pointed out.
"And I'm looking forward to getting to know them better, but it's still new, right now."
Tifa nodded. "So, is any of this materia useful, or have you even been looking at it?"
Aeris laughed and shook her head. "I really haven't been looking."
"You want to get out of here? We can come back later."
Aeris agreed, and they left the store to explore the rest of the town. It wasn't a date, but Tifa didn't seem to have any objection to spending time together. It was just too hard for her to think about anything more right now, Aeris guessed.
* * *
Elmyra, Wedge, and Marlene reached Kalm late in the afternoon the following day. Aeris had taken Tifa up on her offer to train together, and they saw them approaching from the square. Aeris and Tifa went down the road to meet them outside of the walls. Wedge carried Marlene, who was sleepy but still obviously happy to see Tifa, and wrapped her arms tight about Tifa's neck as she took her from Wedge.
"I'm so glad to find you here," Elmyra said, embracing Aeris. Aeris hugged her back tightly.
"Did you all make it out okay?" Wedge asked, searching their faces anxiously for any sign of more loss.
"Yeah," Tifa assured him. "We even picked up a new ally."
"I was so worried," Elmyra said. "We haven't caught any of the news since leaving Midgar... I kept thinking we would make it here only to hear something awful had happened at the Shinra building."
Tifa and Aeris exchanged glances.
"Well... Things did get pretty bad," Aeris admitted, and on the way into town, Tifa went on to tell them, in simple terms, how things had gone down at headquarters. And when her voice faltered at the subject of Sephiroth, Aeris quickly picked up the thread.
"Gods," said Elmyra when they'd finished. "I'm glad I'm only hearing about that now that I already know you're safe."
"Yeah," Wedge agreed. "Wow."
They entered the inn, and Aeris gave a little wave to the innkeeper, who watched them now with brow furrowed, trying to determine how the newcomers fit into their odd group.
"I guess we'll need a second room for tonight," Tifa remarked thoughtfully, "but we can take care of that later."
They went on up to join Barret, Jessie, and Red in the room, and after introducing Red to the new arrivals, everyone spent a good while talking over the events of the past few days. Underneath it all, they were just trying to reassure each other that everything was as well as it could be, that the time apart hadn't cost them anything.
"I brought your seeds," Elmyra said, patting the bag she had brought with her, "and some of your clothes. We couldn't take too much, but I thought you might like them."
"Thanks, Mom," Aeris said, and she squeezed her mother's hand because she knew it meant that Elmyra wasn't sure they could ever go back.
"I checked in with the people at the church before we left," Elmyra went on. "They're very happy to look after your flowers, though I doubt they'll do as good a job."
"That's still nice to know."
Elmyra sighed. "You're going with them when they leave Kalm, aren't you?"
"Yeah," Aeris confirmed. "I think I'm a member of AVALANCHE now. At least Jessie keeps saying it."
"Well... I wish that you could be safe, but maybe the safest place for you to be right now is with them. They did get you out, and they seem to look after their own."
"I told you they were good people."
Presently Tifa disentangled herself from her friends and got up. "I'm going to go borrow the kitchen downstairs," she announced, "and get dinner going."
"Can I help?" asked Wedge.
Barret put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. "In a minute, Wedge. I still gotta talk to you 'bout somethin.'"
"Oh... All right."
Tifa nodded as though she already knew what it was, and left the room.
"Listen," Barret went on, "I want you to stay with Marlene an' Elmyra. If the Shinra sniff out our trail... I don't want them usin' my daughter against me, you understand? I'm sure Aeris doesn't want that with her mom either," he added, glancing over at them.
Wedge looked disappointed. "Is this your way of saying I'd just slow you down?" he asked.
"Wedge. I'm trustin' you with my daughter's safety. There's no job on the Planet more important than that."
At that, Wedge drew himself up, puffing out his chest. "Understood," he said. "...we can go stay with my little brother. It's not far, but there's no Mako and nobody's ever heard of it, so I doubt they'll come lookin' for us there. Is that okay, Elmyra?"
Elmyra nodded. "It sounds like a fine idea."
Looking more pleased with himself, Wedge went on down to help Tifa with dinner. They all ate together in the room in what would probably be the last meal they shared together for some time.
The original AVALANCHE members seemed to understand something without it ever being spoken aloud between them, and after the dinner conversation died down, they left the inn. Aeris caught Tifa's eye inquisitively, and Tifa motioned for her to come along. Not far outside the town walls, they gathered in a circle in the twilight.
"Before we go on," Barret said solemnly, "we gotta take the time to remember who we're leavin' behind. Biggs was a part of our team, and none of us woulda made it this far without 'im. He could be a hothead, but he was willin' to give his all for the Planet."
"He was a kindred spirit," Tifa agreed. "I mean... He was family. For a while before I met you all, I wasn't sure I'd ever have that again. But Biggs got to be like an older brother. I don't know how many times he pulled me out of myself, and got me to go along with whatever he was up to."
"He always looked out for me," said Wedge. "Back when I was the newcomer, he made me feel like I was part of the team. He made me feel like I could do all sorts of things, and I always thought one day we'd be celebrating saving the Planet together."
They all looked to Jessie, who didn't make eye contact with anyone.
"Aeris," she said, "did you want to say anything?"
"...I didn't know Biggs very well," Aeris admitted, "but I know he didn't hesitate to risk his life for others. He was a good man."
Jessie nodded. "He could be a real idiot sometimes, but he was a good man. I knew him... almost my entire life. I guess I can't remember not knowing him. We grew up together, and when we both lost people to Shinra, we became each other's family. We had each other's backs. Part of me thinks, we should've met our ends together, but I know he wouldn't want that. He gave his life fighting for our home, and for everyone gathered here... so for his sake, we have to keep up that fight, and make sure it wasn't in vain."
"We don't got a body to bury," Barret said, "and I ain't about to ask anyone to give up the only thing we got left of 'im. So we're just gonna take a minute."
They all stood in silence for a long minute. Probably, quite a bit longer than a minute. At last, with the same tacit understanding that had brought them out here, they all turned back for the town, and returned to the inn. After night fell, and they all turned in, Aeris heard Jessie crying in the dark, and she promised herself that they were all going to make it through this together, so they wouldn't have to lose anyone else.