Hidden Identity (Book Two)-Complete

Year Five, Day Forty-Two Part 2

Cloud POV

This guy continues to go on and on,

"Finally, we got to the day of the launch. Everything was going as planned, until that dumbass, Shera, messed everything up, so ShinRa cancelled all their space exploration plans," Captain Cid tells us, looking like he wants to punch something or someone. "After they had told me that the future was in space exploration and got my hopes up...DAMN THEM!!"

He kicks the wall in anger. "Then, they found out Mako was more profitable, so all thought of exploring space went out the window! Money! My dream was just a financial number to them! Look at this rusted Rocket...I was going to be the first man in space with this, once upon a time...Everyday, it tilts a little bit more. I don't know what'll come first: me finally giving up and leaving this place or this thing coming crashing down. My last hope is to talk to the President."

He looks really down-trodden and sad. I honestly feel pretty bad for him. All his dreams and hopes were utterly crushed by ShinRa just because something happened on the launch day.

"Cloud, maybe now isn't the right time to talk to him," Sam whispers to me, putting a hand on my shoulder to catch my attention.

"But we need to leave before ShinRa gets here," I whisper back.

"Maybe I can try talking to that woman back at his house again."

"Fine."

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Sam POV

"So? How'd it go?" Tifa asks when we get back down out of the Rocket.

Barret grunts irritably. "No luck. The guy just ranted on and on about how ShinRa crushed his dreams of space exploration. Should've just gone straight to the point in the first place."

"I already told you that I thought it would be better if we gained his trust first. People are more likely to let you borrow their things if they trust you," Cloud replies, looking adamant. They'd been arguing about this the whole way down.

"I figured that's what you were doing," I finally say, hoping to end this pointless argument of theirs. "But it doesn't matter. Let's just go talk to that lady that was at his house. She might be his wife or something. Maybe she'll let us borrow it if we tell her we talked to the Captain."

He nods. "Right. Lead the way."

Everyone follows me back into town. The Captain's house is right next to the trail leading to the Rocket. It's a nice house, really, with the big red plane parked in the back behind a fence. Just as I'm about to knock on the door, I stop and look back at the others.

"Um, we might overwhelm or frighten her if all of us are here..." I tell them.

"Good point," Cloud says. He and Aerith stay with me while the others head back to the inn to wait.

I knock on the door and a woman with long brown hair and glasses answers it. "Oh, hello, you're two of the girl's from before. Were you able to talk to the Captain?"

I nod. "Yeah, we were, but we weren't able to ask him about the plane..."

"Oh...I see...would you like to come inside? He'll be coming back soon, so maybe you'll be able to talk to him then?"

"Really? Thank you," I say, giving her a smile. She holds the door open to let us inside. The warm interior of the house is lamp-lit and surprisingly very welcoming. Just inside is a joint kitchen and dining room with a small round table in the center with four chairs.

Not long after we come inside, the front door opens and Captain Cid steps inside. He looks around at us before turning to the woman, "Damn, Shera! Are you blind!? We got guests! Get some tea!"

Flinching involuntarily, I watch as the woman obediently walks over to the kitchen and sets a kettle of water on the stove to heat up. I feel so sorry for her. He shouldn't yell at her like that!

"Don't worry about us, we won't be staying long," Cloud says coolly, not looking too pleased at the way the woman is being treated either.

"Shut up and drink your goddamn tea!" the Captain growls, plopping down in one of the table chairs. 

Looking like he would rather slap the man, Cloud sits across from him. Aerith and I take the other two chairs, looking between them. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea...

After a while, Captain Cid stands up. "Damn, I'm pissed. Shera, I'll be in the backyard. Make sure you serve them some tea!"

We watch him leave through the back door. Aerith is the first to speak. "Sheesh! Talk about bad manners."

"I'm sorry for the trouble we've caused," I say to the woman, Shera. Why does that name sound familiar?

"No, it's fine...he's always like this," she replies, sighing.

"He's always like this? That's not right. He shouldn't treat you that way," Cloud says, shooting a look at the back door.

"It...it's my fault...I made a very bad mistake a long time ago...I was the one who destroyed his dream..."

Now I remember where I heard her name before. The Captain mentioned her when he was telling us his story. He said that she was the one that messed everything up on launching day.

"What happened?" Cloud inquires, leaning forward on the table.

"I...I was the one in charge of checking the oxygen tanks to make sure he wouldn't run out of air...and, during the launch, I found a problem...I was trying to fix it when they started the countdown...you see, soon, it would get very hot in the engine room when they blasted off, and I'd die. I told them to go ahead with it. I didn't want to come between him and his dream...I was almost done with the repair...if he had just gone ahead, it would've been a success...but he stopped the launch because of me...to save me...so, It's my fault that his dreams weren't made into reality...that's why, I don't care what he says. I'll live my life for him."

Just then, a knock comes from the door. Shera abandons the tea preparations and goes to answer it. I look around at the others. "Maybe we should go..."

"Unfortunately, it looks like we might have to resort to stealing the plane after all," Cloud sighs. 

"Hey, hey! Where is he? Captain Cid?" a portly, rotund man says, pushing past Shera into the kitchen/dining room.

"I'll go get him. Please, make yourself at home," she says before heading out the back door.

I recognize this fat man. He's Palmer, Head of the Space and Aeronautics Division. Which means ShinRa's here. Time to go, I guess.

Cloud glances at the man who's serving himself tea before leaning over to me. "Go get the others. We'll meet you out back by the plane."

"Alright."