For Honor or Glory

Midgar

Chapter 6 

By the time Alex made it to where the coach would be coming into town, she had managed to clear most of the evidence of her tears. She didn't need anyone butting in or asking questions. She already had too much to think about, and she doubted the trip would be conducive to trying to figure it out.

She heard the chocobos before she saw the wagon. She had known it would be crowded, but she was more than a little thankful when most of the people dismounted as soon as it stopped. The carriage was large enough to fit at least fifteen people, if they crammed in, which they had. Thankfully, for the moment, most of the ones had come from the surrounding villages to work at the apple juice factory.

Alex shook off her thoughts when she heard the driver call out. She rushed over and held up the fee for the ride. Since this was a regular route between the villages in the area and so many people used it, the cost wasn't too high. They would lose business if they charged more than the working class could afford. Unfortunately, she also knew that it wouldn't get her far. At least she hoped it would be enough to get her to a place she could spend the night.

This was only the beginning, and she was already cursing her impulsiveness. Unfortunately, she also knew she didn't have much choice. The last thing she wanted was to get there too late.

Once she paid, Alex pulled herself up into the back and ignored the looks from the few people that remained. This was going to be a long trip, and she hoped they left her alone. She pushed her pack under the seat between her legs and shoved the suitcase next to her. She tried to take up as little space as possible before she leaned her head back and closed her eyes. Not that she was sleeping. She had an ear out for anyone that got close, but it helped her focus on what was to come.

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By the end of the day, Alex realized she had been right, but it wasn't as bad as she had feared. There were several times that the large wagon had almost too many people. They would have probably shoved them in until there was standing room only if it weren't for the fact that the six-chocobo team couldn't have handled more weight. It was less than ideal circumstances, but it was cheap.

By the time Alex reached the small port city, she was glad she wouldn't be seeing, or smelling, chocobos for a while. Unfortunately, it took her a full day to find a ship that would take the long way around to the port on the north side of the mountains. She tried not to worry about it, as it would save time in the long run. Trying to find a pass over those spiky behemoths could have taken weeks longer.

The ship ended up being crowded with very little privacy, but once again, she tried not to think about it. It wasn't as though she had a lot of money to spare. She was just glad that she had the money at all. Saving her meager income hadn't been easy. She probably wouldn't have had nearly as much if her mother hadn't started to refuse to take it.

Whenever that thought came around, she would force herself to the deck, or the galley, or anywhere that she had something else to think about. She was caught between missing home and excited to see her brother. Though the excitement was tempered by the events that had catapulted her into the decision to leave.

Even with the crowd, Alex was lonely. More than once, people had approached her with smiles and greetings, but she never allowed the conversation to go far. She felt bad when they walked off with frowns, but she simply didn't have the brain capacity to deal with them and her tangled thoughts at the same time. She just hoped Angeal never found out about it. She could already hear the lecture he would give her.

When the boat finally landed, she was glad to learn that the port they used was even farther north than she had expected. From there, She could make it to Midgar on foot in a matter of weeks. Not that she wanted to walk the whole way.

She was even more thrilled when she found several services that offered rides that didn't involve giant smelly birds. There were very few mako powered vehicles on the island where Banora was located, and those were usually held by the rich. She had seen one, of course, since the Rhapsodos's owned one, but had never gotten to ride in it.

Despite their rarity near her home, there was at least one older fellow with a truck that was willing to let her ride in the back if she helped cover the operating cost for the trip. He was only going to Kalm, but that was a start. Especially since he told her that she could rent a chocobo in the town that would get her the rest of the way.

By the time she saw the walls of Midgar looming in front of her, she was filled with a swirling mix of emotions. She was ready to see her brother, to verify he was still alright. Plus, she wanted to see the city as well, to see if it was like she had imagined, or like the faded memories of it she still held. She tried not to think about who else she wanted to see. Nor did she focus on her reason for being there. That could wait for just a while longer.

She was only a half-mile from the first gate she could see when she dismounted, took all her stuff, and let the bird go. She watched it run off with a half-smile. They were cute things, but she was thankful to be rid of the smell. Once it was out of sight, she turned back to the city to stare for a few moments. She was glad she had made it in the afternoon. She knew it could take some time to get in and find a place to stay. She had no plans to see anyone she knew before she had a chance to clean the travel dust off. With a sigh, she squared her shoulders and headed up the ramp—no point in putting it off now that she was there.

It had taken just as long as she had expected since they had to prepare a temporary ID to be used within the city. She could get a permanent one when she had a verified place to live and a source of income. She was just grateful that the people at the gates could point her to a place she could stay the night that wasn't too expensive.

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The next morning, she woke feeling both refreshed and nervous. She had cleaned up the night before, but she still took a quick shower to wake the rest of the way up. She then pulled out her best outfit. She had made sure to pack it since she knew making a good impression would make it easier to get in to see her brother. She was a little chagrined that she hadn't thought about how difficult it could be since she hadn't let him know she was coming. It was too late now. She would just have to figure it out.

It took her nearly an hour to dry her hair, press the suit, and do her makeup and hair. When she was finished, she smiled at her reflection. She knew she wasn't ugly, but she was still nervous. The pencil skirt and jacket both hugged her curves tastefully and was a shade darker than cobalt, but not quite navy. It was the perfect color to make her bright blue eyes pop. Added to that was a hint of makeup, finished with a touch of blue on her lids to further enhance her eyes. She then added a bit of coral lipstick. Despite the professional look she was going for, she opted to leave her raven hair down. Her fringe was long enough that it framed her face, but the rest fell in straight lines to the middle of her back.

She closed her eyes and sighed before she shoved the last of her things in the bag and slipped on her heels. She knew she was already tall for a woman, at 5'9", and the heels would make her tower over most people, but they wouldn't even put her on even footing with the ones she was looking forward to seeing.

With one last deep breath, she grabbed her bags and headed downstairs. She was far too nervous to eat, so she just turned in the key and headed out. She was too distracted to see the manager of the hotel stop and stare until she was gone. She might have felt a little better about what was coming if she had. At least it would have given her a boost of confidence, and that would have been handy.

A/N: We are now where things start to get interesting. I had planned to add her meeting with Angeal in this one, but I think this was a better stopping point. I also wanted to add a couple of notes. First, for any of you wonderful people who are already using metric(I wish we were too), Alex is ~175cm. Also, if you want an idea of what she looks like, think a young Jennifer Connelly (Labyrinth). I hope you are all enjoying it so far and looking forward to the next installment! Thanks for reading and cheers!