The following day Natalie gave herself explicit instructions to stay in her room and outline questions and allowable tangents for the interview. Considering her distraction level due to the poignant clarity of the previous day's dream, that turned out to be quite a feat. Lunch was delivered and then the door remained firmly closed, as did her mind in regards to any thoughts on Vincent Valentine.
The day of the interview, Natalie set out extra chairs, made sure she had plenty of pens and paper, tracked down her list of questions for the different people scheduled to be there that day, and then sat back with a collection of science and archaeology magazines as she waited for them to arrive. Natalie found herself hoping they were all as easy to talk to as Tifa.
She had heard bad things about Barret, everyone on the planet knew he'd been the leader of the anti-Shinra group AVALANCHE, but she wasn't one to make harsh judgments. I always try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. It's easier. Her thoughts drifted to Vincent for the first time in nearly 36 hours. In some ways more than others.
There was a crash. Natalie looked up sharply as the magazine she read slipped from her fingers to the floor. A man with spiked blonde hair knelt over a broken vase, quickly picking up the pieces to put them into a nearby trashcan.
"You nearly scared me to death," she scolded as she stood.
The man looked over at her with a guilty expression. "Sorry about that. I caught it with my scabbard." He finished picking up the glass shards and slowly straightened, offering her his hand when he stepped forward. "The name's Cloud. Strife. I heard you were looking for me."
Natalie shook his hand with an expression of surprise. "Tifa said you wouldn't be here for a couple more days."
Cloud smiled. "She doesn't know I'm here yet. It's a surprise."
"Oh." Natalie gestured to one of the many chairs situated around her small table. "Have a seat. We can start now if you like."
"Could we wait?"
Natalie nodded. "That's fine. It doesn't matter to me." I'm still up here when I really want to be in a musty old basement. What does it matter to me if we wait or not?
Cloud sat in one of the chairs, kicking it back to prop his feet on the table. "So, do you like doing these kinds of things?"
"Interviews?" Natalie grimaced as she sat in the chair opposite him. "No." I like basements and coffins and things that have been forgotten.
Cloud watched her expression. "Then why do them?"
Natalie shrugged. "Science sometimes demands we do what we don't want to. Besides, I'm hoping the article will sell well. I need the gil." Natalie cleared her throat. She felt so much like she actually used the interview to find information about Vincent that she knew he wouldn't tell her himself.
Cloud smiled. "There myself once. That's how I got involved with Barret in the first place. Gil. He had it. I needed it. He needed help. Bam! Volunteered for a job blowing up a reactor."
"It certainly sounds exciting, if a little dangerous." Vincent would have loved it.
Cloud shrugged. "I didn't really care about the danger, but I'm glad it's over. The most dangerous thing I have to worry about these days is a paper cut." He smiled. "And pissing Tifa off."
Natalie's mind groaned to a halt. "You two are... together?"
"For now."
She arched an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"I don't want to sound possessive or anything by saying a firm 'yes', even though that's the only way I want it to be. I want to give her a choice. You know? She's still her own person. I mean, don't get me wrong. I'm committed. I don't have any plans to go cruising the countryside with some other girl. I just don't want her to think I'm making her choose me over her own freedom. We've both gone through a lot together. It's just natural we'd end up here." He smiled. "I hoped we would."
Natalie looked down at her paper with an absent nod. "That's wonderful." Sickeningly so.
"Who else we expecting?"
"Nanaki. Barret. Tifa, obviously. Cid." Natalie looked at her list. Vincent.
"What about Vincent? I haven't heard from him since we won against Sephiroth."
Natalie's grip tightened on her pen. "I don't know about him or Yuffie. I couldn't get in contact with her."
"And Vincent?" Cloud asked again. "You know he's right here at Shinra Mansion, don't you?"
Natalie nodded, and she could feel the blood drain from her face. "Yes. Yes, I knew that." He doesn't acknowledge that I exist but yes, I knew.
"Did you send him the invite? Did you want me to do it for you? He doesn't talk much, but we got along pretty good together."
I'm sure you thought so, but did he? Natalie gave him a reluctant smile. "No. It's all right. I think I have enough to handle with the five of you." I need the time away from him. You wouldn't understand, but that's all right.
"Just wondering."
"Hello, Cloud. It's nice to see you after such a long time."
Natalie and Cloud looked toward the door.
"Hey there, Red. How've you been?" Cloud asked, smiling.
Nanaki, the lion-like creature fondly known as Red, came to sit beside Cloud. He tucked his tail around his forepaws. "Quite well, thank you. Yourself?"
"Keeping busy." Cloud gestured to Natalie. "This is Natalie Long. Natalie, this is Red... err... Nanaki."
"Hello," Natalie said with a big smile toward the beautiful creature. She had to fight the urge to scratch behind his velvety soft ears. "It's very nice to finally meet you. I've read all your articles, as well as those of your grandfather. Brilliant. Fascinating."
Red nodded his head, and he almost seemed to smile at her. "Thank you very much."
"Sorry I'm late."
Cloud stood, sending Tifa a grin. "Surprise."
"Cloud!" Tifa rushed into the room to throw herself forward and envelop him in a hug, which quite nearly made them both topple backward. "I thought you weren't going to be here until the end of the week!"
Natalie lowered her eyes as her throat constricted.
"I packed faster." Cloud pulled back and urged her to take his seat, which she did. "I guess it's just Barret and Cid now."
"No, its just Barret."
They all looked to the entrance of the quickly filling room to send the ruggedly handsome engineer a smile. He took a puff of his cigarette while he swaggered in. He threw himself into the nearest chair, which happened to be beside Natalie.
She offered a hand. "Hello, Mr. Highwind. My name's Natalie Long. I'm doing the interview."
"Well I didn't think any of these @#$%& numbskulls would be doing it," he retorted as he firmly shook it.
Natalie blinked in surprise at the foul language, but the others just laughed. She smiled and released his hand, somehow at ease among these strangers that were close friends. If I feel this way, how much more had Vincent? He spent weeks and months with them in order to save the planet.
"I really appreciate your time. All of you."
"It's no problem," Cid said gruffly.
The others repeated much the same sentiment.
Natalie looked to her questions while tapping her lips with her pen. "All right. I suppose we might as well begin. There's no point making you all wait. I'm sure Mr. Barret will be here as soon as he can." And Vincent?
Cloud sat in the chair beside Tifa, kicking back and draping one of his arms along the back of her chair. Every so often he would caress her back with a solitary finger. "Don't bet on it. He's been awfully busy getting everybody situated with enough seedlings and starter plants. He could've forgotten about the whole thing."
Tifa laughed. "Cloud, come on. Barret forget a responsibility? That would be like Yuffie forgetting where a stash of Materia was in the old days."
"Hey. There's a first time for everything."
They all conceded the point with a laugh and then talked amongst themselves as they relived a myriad of past adventures with "do you remember when"s and "wasn't it funny when"s. Natalie watched them interact with one another. How did Vincent react to all these different types of people? Did he feel lost? Did he feel overwhelmed? Did he feel accepted? There were so many questions she wanted to ask about the lonely soul hidden in a distant basement.
"What exactly is your plan?" Natalie finally asked.
They all looked at her. "Plan?"
"For rescuing the planet," she added. "What's the plan? Anyone?"
They all exchanged glances as if to ask 'who first' before Red cleared his throat with a husky purr. "It's not necessarily a plan, per say, but the only course of action we see available."
"How did you know what to do?"
"It was kind of simple," Tifa spoke up timidly. "Mako and Materia were actually the planet's life. Once we knew that, it seemed obvious we needed to give it back. That's why we put it in the Lifestream."
"And the machinery?" Natalie asked Cid.
"Machinery before used Mako. It's my job to find out how to make them use either solar energy or something else, just as long as it doesn't detract from the planet's energy or poison the atmosphere." He grumbled under his breath a moment or two. "I tell ya, I don't have many #%&$# options open to me at the moment."
Natalie restrained a smile at the outburst. I wonder what Vincent's reaction was to you, Mr. Highwind. You more than likely gave him no end of amusement. "Have any of you noticed any changes in the ecosystem?"
"Yeah," Cloud said. "The sky's different. The grass is greener, too. And there seem to be more animals around then before."
"The kids look healthier," Tifa volunteered.
Natalie nodded. "Yes. I've noticed that. The people have a healthier, more positive attitude." Maybe Vincent just needs time?
"Of course," said a loud voice. "They've got damn good air to breathe!"
All of them turned, giving Barret an enthusiastic greeting as he stomped into the room with his adopted daughter, Marlene, on his shoulders.
"I'm so glad you could make it Mister--"
"The name's Barret," he interrupted.
Natalie nodded as she offered him her seat. He declined and, instead, leaned against the bookcase after depositing Marlene on the bed.
"So let's get this interview moving," he barked. "I've got a lot of work to do, and there's no stopping this train we're on."
They all laughed, and Natalie surrendered to another smile.
*
Romantic Interludes / The Profound in a simple 'hello'