Lean On Me (FF7)

26

"Is there even anything for me to do in here?" I wander around the room. The display cases holding all the past weapons complete a square around the... square room, leaving a small gap for the door way. I follow them with my eyes before spotting one with a sheet over it.

"What's this?" I make my way over to the case, looking up and down at the dusty sheet.

"That? Those were Aeris's. Here," she reaches above me and tugs the sheet off. The thick layer of dust on the material floats through the air and I cough, trying not to inhale it.

"Don't be a baby," she rolls her eyes at me.

I ignore her, looking at all the shiny staffs in shock. They're so... clean. Especially for being locked away for so long. Yuffie practically reads my mind.

"Cloud used to come down here and clean them once a month. He'd have conversations with her or whatever, but he was really just talking to himself," she shakes her head. "He stopped after he disappeared, obviously, but somehow they're still clean."

"They're so cool looking. If only that one wasn't pink," I point to a staff that looks light weight and has deadly looking spikes on the end like a mace.

"I'm sure Cloud wouldn't mind if we painted it," she winks. "But just in case..."

She tugs her phone out of her pocket and flips it open, typing in his number by memory and holding it to her ear.

"You guys there yet? Why not? Oh, that's sucks. Losers!" she laughs. "What? Oh, no, um... actually, I was wondering if maybe we could, uh, recolor one of the staffs for Denzel?" she winces as she asks, biting her lip. "Cloud... No, you can't hang on to her forever, I don't care if you saw her in a vision. No. No, listen to me. You're not protecting him by making him stay in the dark. He needs to learn to protect himself. He's not too young! Um, yeah, I was throwing knives by the time I was six, idiot! Whatever," her voice softens in defeat. "No. Just enjoy your meeting." Then she closes it with a loud snap. Then she holds up five fingers.

"I'm assuming he said no?" I ask. Four fingers.

"We'll see." Three fingers.

"What do you mean?" Two. One.

"And...," she drags out. The phone rings in her hand and she looks at me in success.

"Hello?" she sighs dramatically. "No, he's really upset. Like, almost crying." I roll my eyes. I used to be an emotional kid. Used.

"Cloud... Are you sure? No, I'm sorry, is shouldn't have blown up on you like that. You don't have to. Okay. Bye," She makes a kissy noise into the phone and hangs up.

"So?" I raise an eyebrow.

"He said yes!" she yells excitedly, holding open her arms wide.

"Yes!" I cheer, giving her a hug. Then she pulls back and puts both hands on my arms, looking me dead in the eye.

"We're gonna make it the best looking staff he's ever seen. Right?"

"Right," I nod with a smile. She pats my left arm and stands all the way up from her crouching position.

"I'll find the keys and get it out. You go look for something to paint it with." she says, stepping over random things with her long legs. Why am I so short? I climb over random junk piled in the corner and look under the sheets over everything.

"There's got to be spray paint around here somewhere."

"Find anything?" I hear a lock click.