Capítulo 31: Chapter 46 & 47 - Letters
[Volume 2! Starting with a big release of eight chapters. Four days, four releases!]
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[Next Volume is the big one, the finale with Voldemort is coming up, and so I have divided it into three parts. 50 thousand words each. Enjoy!]
Riverdale was the place where Tifa, Aerith, and Cloud had decided to buy their new house. It was the place where they spent the holidays between their fifth and the sixth year.
Right now, when the twilight had barely started, Tifa jogged through from Van Cortlandt Park to the house that they bought here. She stood in front of a five-bedroom, four-bath house with grassy front and back lawns and inviting patios.
She stood in front of it, gasping for breath, and took a long breath, gazing towards the house as if it wasn't hers, 'The second house…never really thought that I'd have a second house…and one this big.'
Their other house is big too, but they barely spent their time together in that house when they did stay there. They mainly were out on walks or practicing magic. In her case, she taught Cloud Zangan-Ryu Martial Arts. As for Aerith, she had already made a garden for herself in that place.
She opened the door, entering, and on her right were the stairs connecting the upper floor to this one, and on her left was the long, connected living room and dining room. She wondered if they were sleeping when her ears perked up, hearing the sound of utensils.
'Is he cooking again?' Tifa raised her eyebrows and walked towards the kitchen gate. She passed through the living room, the sofa, the fire, and to the connected dining room. On the left was the door that led to the kitchen, which she entered to find Cloud, wearing an apron, cooking, "Cloud."
"You are back," Cloud broke an egg, "Go, freshen up. Food is almost ready."
"You didn't have to cook," Tifa leaned against the door, smiling at him. When they came to this world, they were about 11, maybe 12. Since Aerith was born in February, May, and August in August, they assumed they were eleven and reaching twelve about the time they started school.
In 1994, they were sixteen or seventeen, and it was fair to say that they had hit and completed their second growth spurt. What made her think all this was when they were kids, Cloud had already hit the peak height he had in the last world, 175 cm. And she was sure he'd grow taller, but nothing had changed other than his face maturing a little and him cutting his hair.
"Tifa…Tifa…?"
"Huh? Yeah?" Tifa snapped out of her thoughts, shaking her head.
"Go, get fresh. You still seem half-asleep," Cloud shook his head, causing a blush on Tifa's cheek.
She wanted to say that was not it, but the alternative was telling him she was lost in thought because she was thinking about him.
She squeezed her lips tight, struggling, but in the end, she decided to sigh and turn around to leave. This house had four bathrooms, one was for the guests, and the three were divided between them. She went to her room on the upper floor and opened her wardrobe to take a few clothes.
Since they were going to train in a little while, she picked her sports bra, a purple off-shoulder cotton top, black shorts, and a mini-skirt.
She placed her clothes on the bed and decided to fill the bathtub, but when she entered, the tub was already filled, and sight steam had collected over the tub. She tried to suppress the smile on her lips, 'Thanks.'
While Tifa was bathing, Cloud decided to go and ask Aerith to eat breakfast. For most people who lived in Riverdale, it might have been too early to have breakfast or even get up, but to them, it was necessary.
He was about to leave the dining room when the flames in the fireplace erupted, once and twice, and three to four letters dropped in the living room.
'With this timing?'
He stepped towards them when his footsteps paused for a moment. The hesitation came from Genesis, standing there with the letters in his hand, "This one is from your friends. Fred and George."
"Those two? There must be something wrong with it. Or maybe there must be one of Ginny's, and they exchanged the names. Knowing that Cloud would burn theirs."
Cloud glanced towards Angeal, sitting on the sofa, wearing the apron since, until now, he had been teaching Cloud how to cook.
"One from that girl Hermione, and lastly…interesting from Potter?"
Cloud took the letters floating in mid-air, and they seemed to phase through Genesis's hand, "Do you have nothing better to do?"
He shook his head, realizing that he was talking to himself. He turned away from them, leaving Fred, George, and Ginny's letter for Tifa or Aerith to sort out. He wasn't sure which one of them had a hidden prank. He started with Hermione's letters since she kept them informed.
The gist of the letter told Ireland Vs. Bulgaria's Quidditch Finals were about to take place soon. And Arthur Weasley managed to get his hands on some tickets. On the other hand, he also asked to convey that because of the disastrous defeat of England in the World Cup, the Ministry was looking for new upcoming talents and had asked them to attend the World Cup Finals.
"She's such a sweet girl."
Cloud rolled his eyes at Zack, passing through him as he turned into smoke, and kept the letters on the table before opening Harry's. There wasn't much in his letter, just asking about their every day, and informing him, and lastly, there was some information that the scar on his forehead was paining.
"I'd say that's burying the lead."
Cloud glanced towards Roche, who jumped on his feet, grinning.
"Tell me we are going to that World Cup? I want to see the speed."
Cloud rubbed the back of his neck, dropped the letter, and walked out of the dining room. He went over to the back lawn Aerith had turned into a garden; even now, she was watering.
"We have a few letters and an invitation for tomorrow. Do you think we'd have the time for that?"
Aerith jerked back her brown hair, looking over her shoulder, "Good morning to you too, Cloud."
She stood straight, putting her finger on her chin, "Let's see. We still have to visit Avalanche to hand over the duties. But other than that, I don't see anything urgent? Invitation to what again?"
"Quidditch World Cup Finals. Some people in the Ministry want to meet and recruit for the next World Cup."
"Wonderful," Aerith walked up to him, tucking her hands behind her back, tilting her head with a smile, "But you already rejected them before. When they came to ask you and Tifa for this year's World Cup. If you are thinking of going, does that mean?"
"Yeah. I doubt we'd be this busy about four years later," Cloud scratched his cheek, "So…you know…what do you think?"
Aerith placed her head on his shoulder, wrapping her hands around his waist, amused, "I think…that's perfect."
*Pwwuuuuuueeett*Pwwuuueeet*
Cloud placed his hand on her head, slowly blinking, looking towards the guy whistling soundlessly.
"Cloud, look, there is dirt on her cheeks! Wipe her cheeks!"
Cloud ignored Zack for a moment until he couldn't take it. He raised his hand, using his apron to wipe her cheek.
She was slightly surprised, her eye closed as he wiped her cheek, "Is everything ok, Cloud? Recently, you have been acting a bit strange?"
Cloud hugged her, looking at Genesis, Angeal, Roche, Nero, Weiss, Vincent, Kunsel, Luxiere, Lucrecia…Zack…and Sephiroth. He closed his eyes, "Nothing. I am alright. Better even."
At first, he used to wonder if there was a chance that these voices in his head were alive. If these people were alive. But then, two years ago, he started to dig into their memories to learn more about how Shinra used to train their soldiers. Things he knew, things he didn't know.
It went smoothly, to the point that he was doubtful why he didn't do this before. Why his instincts screamed to him that it was a bad idea, and then it happened. The Jenova Cells reached a certain level, to the point that he also started seeing them.
At first, he was annoyed, but it also answered the question he had had for a long time. If they were souls, then Aerith would have seen them, but she didn't.
That…made it clear. The voices in his head were his own, taking forms of personalities from the ample storage of memories in Jenova Cells.
'Yeah, you have Multiple Personality Disorder, my friend.'
Cloud ignored Roche's voice, who completed his thought for him, and pulled away from Aerith, "You want to take a bath?"
"I already showered in the morning," Aerith swirled her fingers, and magic surrounded them, cleaning her of any dirt and his apron, too, "All better."
"You two…done with the morning romance?"
"Yes, all done," Aerith grinned, walking past Cloud, who turned to look at Tifa.
She was drying her hair, wearing a black sports bra and shorts. His eyes were drawn to her abdomen, toned thighs, and ass before he hastily walked past her, "Get dressed before coming to the table."
"I…" Tifa parted her lips, speechlessly closing them when Aerith stifled her giggle, patting her shoulder.
"He'll take the hint…one of these days."
"I wasn't hinting at anything," Tifa pulled Aerith's cheek, seeing the knowing look in her eyes, and turned away.
Cloud turned the corner, glancing towards Zack, floating in the air, lying on his side, his hand supporting his head.
"You really should take a hint, Cloud."
"Go away," Cloud muttered, slowly swiping his hand, and the hallucination disappeared.
He sat down on the chair, 'This day is too tiring, too early.'
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