A flicker; Traverse Town; [continued here]

[sunshine_dark]

"That's for me...?" The inquiry about the items caused a raise of an eyebrow in response. "Yeah.." There was nothing particularly odd about giving the items that belonged to his friend, to him. They both got something out of that munny so it was a fair shake on both sides. It didn't hurt to make sure that there was extra items there if his friend

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[silver_soldier]

It was just as well for all involved that Sephiroth had already been awake, because given his erratic sleep schedule he would have been thoroughly annoyed to be woken up out of turn, even by Zack. But as it was, he'd managed a surprising few hours of sleep - in spite of Traverse's unnatural darkness - and had been working on an entry for his journal when he heard Zack's call echoing through the hotel.

Probably just as well if he vacated the room, he decided; the woman that blue-haired man had warned him off hadn't returned yet, and might never do so, but all the same it would save trouble if Sephiroth weren't in her room when she returned. It wasn't as if he'd paid for the room, after all, and given his finances he wanted to keep things that way.

Tucking away his journal, and grabbing Masamune from its place against the wall, he headed for the door of the room, pushing it open and stepping into the hallway, stifling the kneejerk shiver at the sudden temperature change. Either the hole in the ceiling hadn't been fixed or -

Or his idiot friend was standing with the outside door standing wide open, that could be it too.

"It's cold enough in here already without the door standing wide open, Zack," he remarked drily. He could have made a faintly accusatory comment about some people not having coats and let Zack interpret it as chastisement, but decided against it. He was more pissed off at Axel than Zack for that anyway, and even more aggravated with himself for having given Axel the opportunity. There was nothing to be gained by guilt trips.

[landofcanaan]

Aerith had finally been helped up and onto the roof by the time her friend's cheerful call could be heard from down below. She smiled back at Leon and trotted over to the hole they'd been seeking to temporarily patch up, careful not to lose her balance and fall again. She was sure falling from the roof would be much more painful than the little spill she'd almost had inside. It was a little precarious, balancing on a rooftop, but the flower girl managed without falling on her rear-end or injuring anything.

Aerith knelt down carefully by the hole, poking her head through to see Cloud, Zack, and Sephiroth all standing around in the hall. She waved, motioning Leon over as well with her other hand.

"Up here, guys! Leon and I are trying to patch up the roof a little until that Dante fellow shows up to fix it," she called down. No, the girl chose not to mention that it looked slightly more torn up than the last time they remembered it.

[grumpy_lion]

Leon heard Zack's voice emerge from the nearby hole, but unlike the flower girl, he did not smile. Quite the contrary, in fact, brows furrowing and lips thinning in a scowl. Despite his evident displeasure, he kept his eyes fixed on Aerith as she moved about the roof, though he doubted he ould do much even if she did end up falling. Hopefully she wouldn't. After a while, he joined her, kneeling by the hole and poking his head through to take a look.

He blinked, surprised to find the idiot Zack accompanied by Cloud and Sephiroth. He remembered Aerith mentioning something about a meeting. Was that what they were here for?

It was pretty comforting to see that things were finally starting to get down to business.

[noster_nostri]

Finally Sora was in the hotel, just as he had promised Aerith he would be. Hopefully she was still around, and hopefully he would get to meet those other people she told him about. He frowned a bit as he realized he wasn't sure which room she was in.

The random encounters of the night still had his mind a little confused, but luckily he didn't have to look too hard to find a group of people standing in the hallway, three men. Never hurt to snoop around a bit. "Aerith?" he asked, glancing around for a glimspe of the girl. Then he blinked when he realized one of the men was Cloud. "Cloud?" he asked, and then a huge grin spread across his face. He hadn't looked up towards the hole in the roof, it was probably beyond his notice.

[sunshine_dark]

Since Cloud had entered through the door last, it probably was safe to assume that he was partly responsible for the doorway being left wide open as pointed out by the General. The issue with that being: there was a hole in the ceiling of the hotel. Cloud failed seeing the point in shutting the door to keep out the cold when there was a hole in the roof to do just that-let the cold air in. Despite the painfully obvious contradiction the door was clicked shut behind him. If anything, it would theoretically keep Heartless out of the building.

The hotel itself looked a lot worse on the inside than it did on the exterior. The gaping ceiling hole, though a focal point in its own right, drew his attention when he heard Aerith's voice calling from the rooftop. Not only was she on the roof, but up there with Leon as well. Leon was a face he hadn't seen in a while.

Before he could pay all that much attention to the roof-top dwellers he was addressed by name, which immediately evoked his re-focus. That sounded a lot like.. "Sora?" Even if it had looked like he had went and grown up a little since the last time they'd met, there was still no mistaking the Keyblader. Cloud smirked lightly when he caught sight of that big grin on the kids face---Still the same old mannerisms. "It's been a while." He offered, tail ending his greeting with an acknowledging nod.

[twilight_dark]

It looked like the hotel was still the hub of action in Traverse Town. Zack had been silly to think it would be abandoned. Mere seconds after entering, he and Cloud were met by Sephiroth, Aerith and Leon--the latter two being up on the roof of all places. Zack got the feeling that the hole was larger, but he didn't want to say anything. Aerith would probably get upset, since he got the feeling her efforts had led to its widening.

"Well," Zack blinked, looking from behind him at Cloud to up at Aerith and Leon to forward at Sephiroth, not quite sure what to say first. "Are we ready for this meeting? Leon, I guess you can join in, too." It was still awkward to speak with the other man, but Zack wasn't about to exclude him pointlessly.

Their crowd was added to when another boy stepped in. Someone who apparently knew Cloud. And the blonde's response revealed that it was the Keyblade Master himself. Well then. Zack stared at the younger one for a moment, not quite sure how to react.

"Uhh, hey there. We've never met before, but I'm friendly with... well, everyone here, so..." He shrugged, suddenly feeling out of place. He was the only one who hadn't met Sora before, wasn't he? It was awkward.

[silver_soldier]

Sephiroth had to admit, there were times when the hotel being so crowded was convenient. It looked like everyone he needed to talk to had somehow managed to wind up being in the same place at the same time...even Leon, whom he'd been considering inviting into their planned conversation anyway, and -

Sora.

It had been four years, and yet Sephiroth didn't have the slightest difficulty recognizing the Keyblade Master. He'd definitely changed, but the soldier had made a point of remembering the people (...person) who could defeat him, even if Sora's being the Keyblade bearer hadn't made him worth remembering regardless of that fact. Odd that Sora didn't seem to have noticed him, but they hadn't exactly known each other to talk to.

"It seems like everyone's here," he remarked, sounding faintly amused. Glancing up at Aerith and Leon peering down at the rest of them through the hole, he inquired, "Either of you need any help getting down?"

[landofcanaan]

Aerith wasn't surprised to see Sora, as she'd invited him to stop by the hotel at some point to chat with them about his experiences. She'd figured it would be pretty helpful to Sephiroth and the whole reason behind the upcoming meeting. Besides. With Leon, Cloud, and Sephiroth all in the same room now, the more cheery side could use all the help they could get. She smiled and waved down to the young boy... no, he was more like a young man now.

"That would be a big help, if you don't mind," Aerith answered Sephiroth. She turned to look back at Leon, expecting that he would want to join in as well if he could manage. "Did you want to finish patching the roof up first? I'd like you to come join in too, and I'm not going to leave you hanging up here."

[grumpy_lion]

Like Sephiroth had said, everyone was here. Even Sora. It was heartening to know that things could fall into place as they should every now and then.

"We'll be coming in from the balcony," he informed the others before leaning back to unfold the thick curtain Aerith had found for the task. "Let's finish this first. It's cold out here, and from their grumbling, it's pretty cold down there, too." If theyw ere going to be sitting around discussing important matters, Leon wanted to do so in relative comfort and warmth.

He handed Aerith one end of the curtain -- he had to approve of Aerith's sense, the fabric being thick enough that it would last a good whole night or two before Dante got around to making repairs -- and began to pull his end over the gaping hole.

[noster_nostri]

Sora was about to start asking Cloud questions, like if he had found what he had been looking for and what he had been up to for all those years, but a couple things distracted him.

First there was the people talking. He grinned at Zack, always happy to have someone realize who he was, and looked at the silver-haired man with a puzzled expression. "Hey, do I know you?" he asked, never one to be polite or possess any amount of tack. "You look really familiar..." but before the older man could answer or before Sora could place him the hole in the roof of the hotel (and the two people peering down from it) took Sora's complete attention.

"Wow! What happened to the roof!?" he asked, mouth open and voice a little too loud.

[sunshine_dark]

Even though a cloth wouldn't refrain much from the outside aside from breaking a little bit of the cold, he had to hand it to Leon and Aerith's ingenuity. Making due with whatever there was around Traverse Town was an essential, yet acquired skill that was needed in order to get by. Once the pair of them got down from the ceiling, they could get this whole deal squared away soon.

Were they having this meeting out in the hall...or..?

Once that was covered, attention turned back to the inside of the inn. As for rationalizing the existence of that gap in the ceiling to the keyblade bearer or anyone else, one of the others could give the shorthand term explanation that it people just started "dropping in". Cloud looked away in effort to ignore the question.

His dark-haired friend showing traces of being uncomfortable was a more..unusual sight; more often it was Cloud himself that acted like that. No matter, undoubtedly once the two, he and Sora, actually got to talk it would be a good mesh of personalities-Sora seemed one of those people who could get along with just about anyone. Maybe, if time allowed, Cloud would take a little more interest to find out what the keyblader had been up to. It wasn't so much as a personal friendly interest, he didn't think of the two being particularly tightly-knit friends though he had nothing but fond remarks for Sora, but to find out if their could be any more useful way he could help out. The two of them had been after similar goals in the past, that was something that Cloud held in high regard.

[twilight_dark]

"All right, guys!" Zack called up to the two dwelling on the roof. "Just get down here quick so we can get this party started." Though trying to fit, what, six people into a room? He wasn't sure how well that would work. Though he was fine sitting on the floor if need be.

Sora seemed nice enough, though Zack had to cringe when the boy didn't seem to recognize Sephiroth. Knowing how the ex-general could be, that might result in a serious damage to his ego. Not to say that Sephiroth was egotistical, necessarily, but he was definitely used to people know who he was. The fact that some teenager was better-known than someone who had been regarded as a superb general at home could kick in Sephiroth's pride.

If it ended up being a truly fatal would, Zack would deal with it. But he figured Sephiroth wasn't that privy to such a thing. It was only a kid they were dealing with, after all.

"Uh, about that..." Zack started, indicating the hole. "Two guys were fighting out in the Second District and one of them knocked the other up into the air--and he landed right about there." The soldier sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "I'm going to fix it up with the guy tomorrow or the day after, though, so it won't be sub-zero temperatures in here for much longer."

[silver_soldier]

Sora's failure to recognize Sephiroth, far from bruising the former general's ego, presented him with what he realized was a rare opportunity. The opportunity to NOT be humiliated in front of his - why did the word seem so strange? - friends by a recounting of his defeat at Sora's hands in the Coliseum hung invitingly in the air. And, fortunately, the Keyblade Master's attention span didn't seem to have grown up with the rest of him, as he was distracted by the hole in the roof before he could recognize Sephiroth and ruin the chance.

"There's an empty room there," Sephiroth informed the group at large, beckoning over his shoulder to the room he'd just emerged from. "It'll be less cramped than the hallway, and a lot warmer."

[landofcanaan]

"We'll be as quick as we can be," Aerith called back down to Zack. "You wouldn't want us to rush and fall, would you?" She didn't mention that she'd already done that once today and hoped Leon would have enough sense not to either.

The flower girl did twitch slightly when Sora mentioned the roof again and was glad that Zack was able to handle that. So help the person who caused this if she ever ran into him...

"Alright," Aerith crouched down taking the curtain in hand. She looked to Leon and nodded. "I'll hold it while you clip?"

[grumpy_lion]

Leon shot Aerith a dry look. Rush and fall indeed. He made no mention of the incident, however. It was embarrassing enough without anyone being privy to such knowledge, and Leon intended to keep it that way. No one else needed to know.

He cast such thoughts aside as he focused on the task at hand. He nodded at Aerith, reaching into his pocket for the clips. "Don't let it slip," he warned, and set to work, clipping the blanket onto the hole's torn edges where it was most secure from all around.

By the time Leon was through, he was absolutely freezing. "I think that's good for now," he said.

[noster_nostri]

Sora nodded when Zack explained what had happened, almost as if that kind of thing wasn't strange to him. After he had seen so much and been through so much, a man falling through a roof wasn't all that surprising.

He turned his attention back the the silver haired guy for a moment. Where did he know him from? It was going to bug him until he figured it out...

"Oh!" he said loudly as the realization dawned at him. "You were the guy at Herc's world! We fought in the tournament!" Now that he had figured that out he could move on with his life, so without missing a beat or giving the others time to react. "Anyway, what are we going to do in that room?" What
'party' was Zack talking about? All Sora knew was that Aerith wanted him to stop by.