Inheritance (Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth)

꧁ X ꧂

The elevator reached the bottom level. Cloud and Lailah stepped off and immediately searched for the others. They looked around the ferry dock and managed to find their companions waiting by the ship.

Aerith sighed in relief when she spotted the couple. "Whew..."

"You found her," Tifa said, the tenseness leaving her body. "Thank goodness... Are you two okay?"

"Yeah," Cloud answered.

"Oh!" Aerith walked up to Lailah and handed over a familiar purse. "We found this while looking for you. Your clothes and ticket are still inside."

Lailah sighed in relief. "Thank you, Aerith." Considering the dress and heels were a gift from her mother, she didn't want to lose them. She also adored the dress because it fit her taste and it was very comfortable. Placing the strap of the purse on her shoulder, she was ready to go.

"Great. Now then..." Barret, who had the sack of clothes thrown over his shoulder, looked over his shoulder at the line of passengers who were waiting to board the ferry. He noticed a single black-robed man in the queue. "Let's not keep our "friends" waiting—we better get in line."

Aerith heard the voice of the trooper who was checking the passengers before they could board the ship. "They're screening passengers. Lailah might be able to fool them, but the rest of us..."

Red glanced at the ex-SOLDIER. "What now?"

Cloud was thinking of a solution when he heard the cargo bridge being lowered. An idea popped into his head. "We try the back door."

"Should I go through the line?" Lailah asked. Unlike the other's disguises, hers was that of a casual woman rather than a soldier or a sailor. She also had a ticket.

"Probably would be for the best," Cloud said. "When you get onboard, head to the cargo hold."

"Got it."

Lailah left to join the line. She followed the flow until it was time for her to be screened. The trooper analyzed her appearance before checking the list and pictures that he was carrying. He hummed to himself, but he was easily deceived by her appearance and the ticket she handed him. He cleared her and she was able to safely make it onto the Shinra-8 ferry.

Once onboard, she examined the ticket Clover gave her and gasped. She had a room in first class. "Oh, goddess..." She would have to pay the apothecary back for her kindness. Putting the ticket in her purse, she located her room and the bed she would be sleeping in. She then put her purse underneath the bed and left to search for the cargo hold.

While making her way through the second-class deck, she came across the robed men. All of them filed into one of the rooms and closed the door behind them. Curious, she walked up to the door and tried to open it.

Locked.

"How strange..." She muttered to herself. It didn't matter to her what they were doing as long as they were somewhere she and the others could follow if they decided to wander off.

She left the robed men and proceeded deeper into the ship. She located the cargo hold and looked around for her companions. She didn't want to call out to them just in case there was someone patrolling the cargo hold for any stowaways.

Eventually, she heard chatting and recognized the voices. It was Aerith and Tifa. Following their voices, she found the girls hiding in an alcove created by the various shipping containers. She popped her head around the corner and smiled at her friends. "Found you."

"Lailah!" Tifa and Aerith called out in unison, both of them smiling.

"Sorry to interrupt." Lailah sat down, knees tucked to the side.