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[teaisfortobacco]

Who: Cid Highwind [teaisfortobacco]; Cloud Strife [still_moseying]; Aerith Gainsborough [pinkoptimism]; Marlene Wallace [miniflowergirl]
When: Today.
Location: Sleeping Forest.
Rating: PG-13. Language. |:
Summary: Cid has finally made it, and is now picking up Aerith. He lands the Shera and jumps off to run in and find her. Marlene also reveals that she snuck onto the ship, the lil rascal.

Comments

[miniflowergirl]

Marlene had been hiding in one of the dark spots of the Shera clinging to her bag. She was waiting for the opportune moment to 'make an appearance', but she wanted to make sure they were far enough away from Midgar so she wouldn't be taken back. She watched as the crew ran around, and as Cid shouted out orders. She was used to his language by now, and thought it was funny that people still tried to keep their language clean around her. She giggled at times, watching the the events that went on in the Shera. When they landed, she shifted a bit to make herself more comfortable, but catching someone mentioning Aerith. Her eyes widened, and she strained her ears to listen to hear what they were saying. They were going to get Aerith, and she wanted to go with! She wanted to be there when they found her. Grabbing her bag, she quickly stood up and prepared herself.

"Cloud!" She shouted, running out of her hiding spot and up to Cloud, grabbing his arm and clinging to him. "I want to go with, can I go with?" It was probably going to be a 'NO', but then they might think twice and if she snuck on the Shera, she might sneak along with them to get Aerith as well. She hated being left behind, and she wanted Cloud to know that, for everyone to know that. She wasn't a little girl anymore, she was going to be a teen soon.

She puppy pouted up at Cloud, and was ready for the response from him of finding that she had snuck on the ship, and probably the onslaught of swear words that would come from Cid when he saw that she was on board as well.

[teaisfortobacco]

Upon Marlene's appearance, only one thought crossed Cid's mind, and it shot straight out of his mouth. When it came to his thoughts, Cid Highwind was never good at filtering them, and he never felt the need to.

"What the FUCK are you doin' here?!" he shouted, eyes widening as he threatened to enter a tantrum. A string of curses followed suit, as he turned away and started to pace, a hand moving to cup his chin. It was bad enough that he had all these people coming and going from his ship as they pleased, but Marlene too?

Who the hell was supposed to be watching her, anyway? Turning to look at Cloud's pleading look, then Marlene's, he threw his hands in the air.

"Why the hell do you want to come along anyway?" he said to Marlene, putting a hand on his hip and tapping his foot impatiently. "What if it's fuckin' dangerous in there?! Shit! God fucking damnit! I don't care anymore, do what you fuckers want!"

With that conclusion he turned and started to leave again, stopping to grab one of his handy lances. Testing the weight a bit, he turned to look at them. "If you're coming, move your asses!"

[miniflowergirl]

When Cloud didn't say anything and she just saw him mumble, her attention turned to Cid who would probably be able to give her a more clear (but less clean) answer. She knew he was going to swear, but still wasn't prepared for it, and she cowered against Cloud when Cid shouted. She hoped her pout would beat Cloud's, she pouted more when he asked her why she would want to come anyways. She felt tears of anger well up in her eyes, one of her downsides was she cried when she was angry and it was embarrassing and stupid. She stepped forward away from Cloud, trying to act tough against Cid.

"I came to see Aerith, Cid! It's important to me and I didn't want to stay behind!" Once she spoke, she quickly went to hide behind Cloud again, clinging to his arm once again. She watched Cid swear some more, and then he stormed off. She knew something had to be decided soon, or both her and Cloud would be left behind.

Looking up at Cloud, she smiled overly sweet at him, "I promise I won't wander away, and I'll hold onto your hand the whole time." She hoped that would be enough to convince him, so she leaned against him, "Pleaseeee, I promise not to tell Tifa or Papa. And once we're with Aerith, she'll be sure to watch me and you won't have to bother anymore."

[pinkoptimism]

Outside, Aerith remained positioned near the entrance to the Sleeping Forest, completely astounded by the immenseness of the airship. It was even grander than the one she saw in Junon years ago.

Slightly confused as to how to board the ship, Aerith remained motionless, aside from adjusting her body to better observe the beauty of the ship. Hopefully someone would come out and lead her aboard the ship. She didn't really have any sort of experience in boarding such a ship, being on a ship, or doing anything related to ships.

Suddenly, a thought jolted through her mind as she patiently waited: Who exactly would be on the ship? Who in the next few minutes would be face-to-face with her after she had been dead for the past...well however many years. It's not like she could have been counting. Cid would of course be there since he was the Captain. Yuffie probably wasn't since she was in Wutai the last time she had spoken to her.

In that moment, Aerith became slightly disappointed. She remembered what Yuffie had said about how everyone was separated and involved in their own life. This saddened Aerith as she had looked forward to once again being amongst the friends she made before her...departure. She decided that she'd just have to find and meet them all, even if she had to track them down one by one.

Being once again alive seemed to be an entirely new sensation - or rather experiencing a past sensation. She had no idea how or what had brought her back or whether it was even a good thing that she was back as something was clearly wrong with the Planet. Yuffie had said that people were coming back from the dead. Whatever the reason was, it couldn't be good and it left an awful feeling in the flower girl's stomach - one that seemed to suggest something terrible was about to happen.

Pushing these thoughts away, Aerith focused her attention once again on the ship and waited for someone to come out and guide her into it.

[teaisfortobacco]

Glad that they finally worked all the bullshit out, Cid set forward at a steady march, leading them off of the ship and towards the forest. Aerith knew they were coming, so hopefully she wouldn't be too far away. Granted, he hadn't told her where they'd be landing, but... Well, it would be hard to miss a ship that big.

Grumbling to himself along the way, he lit another smoke as he tried not to pay any mind to Cloud and Marlene. It wasn't their fault all this shit was happening, but... Well, damn! Sometimes, they didn't have time for all these distractions. They should have at least realized that by now!

And as far as worrying about what Barret would say went, Cid was in quite the opposite position from the others. Where they were scared of the rage he would show if he knew, Cid was half waiting for the phone call just to give him a piece of his mind. It wasn't his kid, not his damn fault she decided to go run around bumblefuck, sneaking on ships left and right! As far as Cid could see, he had no reason to feel guilt.

When they reached the mouth to the forest, though, a sigh of relief came over Cid when he saw Aerith waiting for them. At least someone around here had some damn sense. Looking behind him to make sure the others were keeping up, he set off at a jog, keeping his eyes peeled for anything that might show up.

"Aerith!" he called out when he got closer, a knot of mixed emotions in his stomach. There were plenty of rumors flying around of people coming back from the dead, and he did in fact have a number of them on his ship at one point or the other, but it was still just strange to see Aerith again. Especially when the last time he saw her...

Shaking that off, he resumed his usual Cid-ness, waving a hand at her. "You ready to go? Damn ship is waiting over there! Don't want to fuck around here too long!"

At least Cid never changed.

[miniflowergirl]

Marlene followed after Cid holding onto Cloud's hand as they made their way off the ship. She looked around her as her foot touched the ground, examining the forest around her. She likes seeing new places and experiences, sometimes it makes her wish she had gone with Barret to travel a bit around the world like he was, but then it was nice to be home and try to have a family life that her and the others were trying to have. Her head was somewhat whipping around as she looked around her, trying to find some glimpse of pink, when she heard Cid shout out Aerith's name, and she looked in that direction.

She felt a flurry of butterflies in her stomach of happiness, and for some reason she felt her eyes water. She knew it was a mix of happiness and the fact that one of the people she loved most in her life was now back to life, was living. She immediately broke her trust with Cloud, letting go of his hand and sprinting forward.

"Aerith!" She cried out, her face shook because she was beginning to cry. She was filled with some much, that it was all just pouring out of her. As she reached the woman, her arms immediately went around her tightly, hugging her close. It seemed like she was actually trying to see if Aerith was really there, to see that she was actually hugging her. And she was clinging onto the other like something was going to pull her away from her again. She looked up as the tears ran down her cheeks that were a blothchy from her crying, and she had a wide smile on her face.

"I missed you so much." Marlene buried her face into Aerith, never wanting to let go she was an utter wreck right now, her body shaking as she continued to cry. She was not reacting like she thought she would, but she was just feeling so much emotion that it was all coming out, and in the form of tears.

[teaisfortobacco]

Cid stood back and watched as Marlene ran forward to greet Aerith, scratching his head and letting out a sigh, taking another puff of his smoke. Hell, it couldn't hurt to give them a little time to say hello. He wasn't one to get all emotional, but even he was at a loss for words.

Aerith was there, really there again, and it made him happier. Happier than he'd ever admit, or even be able to show. Looking around, he planted the end of his lance in the ground and proceeded to lean on it, keeping a careful eye out for any danger.

During his scan of the surroundings, he saw Cloud standing back a ways, fixing him with a gaze and watching as he hesitated, then finally approached.

Anyone else would have respected the sanctity of the moment. Cid Highwind, however, had something else on his mind when he heard Cloud's greeting, and as usual, it shot straight out of his mouth.

"The hell kind of half-ass greeting is that? You know you fuckin' missed her, go give her a proper hello!" he ordered, automatically defaulting to his Captain tone before reaching over to give Cloud a shove on the back. "If Zack wanted to say hello, that numbskull would've stayed on the fuckin' ship!"

[pinkoptimism]

Her attention caught by Cid, Aerith waved wildly at him and yelled over the sound of the airship, "Yeah I'm ready! Thanks Cid!" Her expression showed her happiness. Although she never approved of his cursing, seeing him again made her feel as though she was again among her friends.

When Aerith caught sight of Marlene running towards her, she kneeled down and tightly hugged the young girl. She was amazed at how much she had grown in the time they had been apart. The last time the two had seen each other was when Aerith had offered herself to protect the young girl from Shinra. Aerith's heart rose knowing that the young girl remained safe from harm.

"It's okay Marlene. I'm here now."

Stroking her hair in an attempt to calm her, Aerith's hand touched upon the pink ribbon tied in the girl's hair and gave a small.

"Hey, you copied me!" Aerith said jokingly. She straightened the bow as it was slightly crooked from their embrace.

She had not immediately noticed Cloud until she his bright, blond hair in the side of her eye. She stood up with a gentle smile forming on her face and looked directly up at him.

"Hi Cloud." She felt the need to rush over to him and hug him but couldn't seem to build up the strength to do so. She remained motionless, at a loss for words. Somehow, it felt like a dream seeing Cid and Marlene and Cloud again.

When Cloud said the word 'Zack' Aerith froze up. How long was it since she had heard that name. She had asked Yuffie about whether Zack was alive but didn't have too much hope, but now? The hope of seeing him again seemed to be reborn.

The sadness Aerith had of sending those 89 letters to him and not getting a single reply consumed her mind for a brief moment. Tears began to form in her eyes, but she quickly wiped them away.

"He...he did?" Aerith said, barely mustering up the words. "Did...did he say where he was?"