Inheritance (Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth)

꧁ XXXVI ꧂

After a few hours of sleep, Lailah and Cloud were up. They had yet to leave the inn. The girl was hugging a pillow to her chest and sitting on the bed with her legs tucked to the side while the boy sat across from her. She had told him everything Typhon had said during their battle.

"Guess it all makes sense now," Cloud said.

"I can't believe he survived because of the anger he held onto even in death..." She cast her gaze to the mattress and hugged the pillow tighter. "His hatred allowed him to gather strength and spread pestilence to Yggdrasil. Not only that, his ire led to the downfall of Tellus..."

Seeing how tightly she was gripping the pillow, he grabbed her hand and pried it off. He found himself staring at her hand as he held it. He saw how small her hand was compared to his, which he didn't notice until now. The way Hayden had been teasing her about her short stature recently made him think about just how much smaller she was compared to him.

"What is it?" Lailah asked, shattering the silence after seeing the look on his face.

He didn't hesitate to say what he was thinking. "Never really noticed just how small your hands were til now."

"Well, compared to yours..." She moved both of their hands upward, palms pressed against each other. She aligned her fingers with his and giggled. "My hands are pretty small. I do kinda have short fingers now that I look at them."

"Short? Like..."

Lailah's eyes narrowed. "You better not start calling me shortcake or munchkin..."

A small smirk of amusement appeared on his face. "I'd rather not get hit in the head with a rock. Or worse—a fireball."

Suddenly, the couple was startled when the door flew open. Hayden stormed into the room with a frantic expression. "We've got trouble."

"What's wrong?" Lailah asked as she and Cloud got off the bed.

"Shinra's sent a patrol to drag you back to Midgar. They're outside the inn. I was able to get the others out of Nibelheim before they arrived, but..."

"It's too late for us," Cloud deduced.

Hayden nodded. "Shinra's also contacted me to ensure the apprehension goes smoothly."

Lailah's eyes widen. "Which is why you're here..."

Her brother let out a heavy sigh. "Yeah... I'm supposed to take the lead on this last-minute assignment."

"We can't have Shinra expecting you're a traitor let alone a Vitaea." Lailah thought for a second and came up with a plan. "Do what you have to to keep up appearances. Leave the escape plan to me."

"All right. Sorry in advance, you two." Hayden reluctantly pulled out his handgun and aimed it at them. "And be careful. The troopers are armed with that nasty drug Corneo used."

Cloud and Lailah left the room after the blonde grabbed his sword. He attached it to his back as he and the girl walked down the stairs with Hayden behind them.

"Don't draw your sword," Lailah whispered to the ex-SOLDIER while they walked through the lobby.

"What do you have planned?" he asked in the same low tone.

"A disappearing act," she answered. "Just follow my lead."

Walking out of the inn, Cloud and Lailah saw the Shinra troopers that had surrounded the building. All of them were aiming their guns at them.

Hayden walked past the couple, his handgun still pointed at them. He took his place in front of the Shinra troopers as his demeanor completely changed. His eyes were cold as he fired a single round at them. The bullet flew a few inches past Lailah's head, causing her to gasp in shock. Cloud immediately grabbed her shoulder and pulled her toward him as he glared at the brother.