Final Fantasy VII: Reflections - Book 1: Descent

THIRTEEN

The next night, Kunsel was waiting for me outside, just like we had planned. He stood patiently by the theater doors, smiling when he saw me. He'd watched the show, of course, front row center like always. But he wasn't wearing his SOLDIER uniform tonight. Just some nice casual clothes instead, a white button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows and a pair of dark pants and shoes.

"Hi!" I waved, walking over to him.

His blue eyes lit up when he saw me. "Hi, Jessie! You were great up there tonight, you know that?"

I laughed. "Thanks, Kunsel. Wait long?"

"Not too much," he shrugged. "Are you ready?"

"Whenever you are," I nodded.

He swallowed, then offered me his arm. Still a bit nervous, I guess. But I couldn't blame him. I had some butterflies flying around my own stomach, after all. And looking at him for too long didn't help much. It was hard for me to do anything else, though. I liked him. A skilled and trained fighter but also caring, decent, insightful, and a real joy to look at. His short brown hair was nicely parted to one side, and as I slipped my arm through his, I admired it for a moment.

As for me, I wore a nice, shoulderless red dress. Short, like most of the ones I had, reaching almost to my knees. It was cut more modestly than some of my other dresses, leaving my arms bare aside from a wide stretch of fabric just below my shoulders, and was a darker red, almost burgundy, with a pair of matching heels.

We were just starting to head down the sidewalk when suddenly a girl in a bright pink dress hurried over to us from near the alley on the other side of the theater. She looked to be around my age, maybe a year younger, and had the most vibrant green eyes I'd ever seen. Her brown hair was tied back in a long, thick braid with a cheerful ribbon that was the same pink as her dress, and she also wore a short-sleeved red jacket with pockets in the front along with a pair of plain brown boots. There was a liveliness to her that I liked at once.

From her arm hung an old, faded wicker basket, and I had to blink to make sure I wasn't seeing things when I realized what inside of it. A collection of flowers—real flowers! I'd never seen any before, only fake ones made out of silk. But these, these were real. Flowers didn't grow in Midgar. Neither did most plants. It was because of the reactors and the byproducts they released. At least, that's what I'd believed back then. It wasn't very far from the truth, though. I hadn't learned yet what mako really was or how its use was affecting things.

At the time, the girl's flowers fascinated me. How had she managed to grow them in this place? It was incredible, to say the least. The smell was wonderful, too. Not like the sprays they used on fake flowers. This was the real deal, and I was curious to know more about them and why the girl had brought them here.

"Hi there!" she smiled. "How would you like—Kunsel?"

She knew him? He nodded. "Yeah, it's me. Guess you didn't realize it without my uniform, huh?"

The girl chuckled. "Nope. And you have a date, too!"

"Uh, yeah," Kunsel blushed. "This is..."

"Jessie Jae, right?" she finished for him, offering me her hand.

I shook it. "Yeah. How'd you know?"

The girl giggled and pointed behind me at the huge mural over the theater's entrance. "Lucky guess."

"Oh!" I smiled. "It was, wasn't it?"

I laughed with her as I realized just how obvious it had been who I was. I'd simply gotten so used to the mural being up there over the past few months that I hardly even paid much attention to it anymore. I felt like I was starting to get used to my newfound fame a little, and the girl didn't seem the least bit fazed or overwhelmed to see me. She was very confident and relaxed, even a little snarky. I liked her already. I did still wonder how Kunsel knew her, though.