Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Coming Home ❯ Chapter 6 ( Chapter 6 )

Chapter 6: A Pilots' Home

 

Lilli awoke the following morning, after a restful night. But no sooner had she opened her eyes, then she got a mouthful of hair.

“Puh! Puh! Cid! Eh, puh! Cid!”

She tried nudging the pilot who was sleeping thrown sideways across the bed, his legs dangled off the edge and his head on Lillis chest… his mop of blonde hair conveniently in her eyes and mouth.

“CID!!”

He shot up, but moved obviously before his body was awake because he immediately rolled right off the bed into a pile on the floor.

“Dammit!”

Lilli peeked over the edge. “Sorry.”

He crawled up the side of the bed and flopped down on his back. Squinting, he looked up at her, smiling. “Mornin.”

His hair in all directions and more grizzle on his face then usual, he looked like a scruffy angel to Lilli.

She leaned over and kissed his forehead. “Morning.”

They'd stayed up most the night talking over tea, burnt popcorn and anything else edible that Cid could find. He kept apologizing to her over and over about his house. It was obviously a bachelors abode. But it was cozy and just the right size. After a few hours of chatting, Lilli was the first to fall asleep and she did so on the couch, her head on Cids shoulder. So he picked her up and carried her to the bed. He intended on sleeping on the couch… he really did, but she came wandering into the living room an hour later and woke him up, asking him to come sleep beside her. He was glad to do it. God it felt good to hold her… in his bed. And now here he was, on his back looking into the most beautiful green eyes he had ever seen. He reached up and stroked the outline of her cheek with a rough fingertip.

“Ya sleep alright baby girl?”

Lilli nodded, smiling in the innocence that made him adore her so. He put an arm behind his head and smiled back. “Ya hungry?”

She turned and leaned over the edge of the bed scanning the floor for her smokes as she replied. “I'm starving… what do you want to eat?”
Cid sat up. “Whaddya mean, what da I want?”

Lilli tossed him a cigarette and lit her own before smiling. “Yeah… you tell me what you want and I'll cook us breakfast.”

As he lit his cigarette, she leaned close and spoke quietly her face inches from his. “Cuz honestly… while I cook, you could use a shower.”

His lips spread into a sideways smile and he chuckled. “That bad huh?”

Lilli kissed the tip of his nose and sat straight. “Yeah.”

“Alrighty then. While I git ta smellin like a daisy, you can cook to yer hearts content… how's that sound?”

She laughed. “Sounds good to me.”

 

The tiny kitchen was the perfect size for the petite beauty. She hummed to herself as she began searching the cupboards for anything close to edible… and she wasn't having much luck. In fact, beside the burnt popcorn Cid made, there really wasn't anything much to eat… and the dust lying inside the cupboards made Lillis heart drop. She didn't feel sorry for him as much as she wondered. All this time this is what he'd come home to… besides 7th Heaven, where did he eat? Who helped him around the house? He had a busy schedule everyone knew that. Had he really been alone all this time?

Finally, she struck gold… well sort of. She found a bag of pancake mix in the very back of the cupboards. She opened it and peered inside, praying nothing with multiple legs would come flying at her face… whew! She smiled. Score!

Now for the fridge. She opened it and scanned its bare shelves… hmm… milk that looked like in a few days it was gonna start breathing and a box of baking soda. She rolled her eyes and looked out the kitchen window just in time to see an elderly woman putting up her “Open” sign in front of the Item shop. Fingering the Gil in her pocket, Lilli grabbed a basket she saw laying on the floor of the living room and headed out the door.

 

When Cid emerged from the shower, the warm smells of breakfast cooking brought a smile to his face. Shit… he hadn't been this happy in years. He mosied into his bedroom and not one article of clothing was in sight. He checked in his closet which was also bare as a bone. He looked down at the towel he held around his waist. Great… now what?

“Baby Girl?”

“Yeah?”

Cid stuck his head out of the bedroom door.

“Where the hell are my clothes?”

Lilli appeared in the hallway with a wooden spoon in her hand. “In your washer.”

“Well… that's dandy but what the hell am I gonna wear?”

“I found your bathrobe… it's there on the bed.”

He owned a bathrobe? The hell? And when?

“Where'd ya find a robe at?”

Lilli put a hand on her hip. “In your closet… amazing what you find when you look in the proper places!”

 

When all was said and done, the two sat together on the steps of Cids house enjoying a warm breakfast of pancakes, eggs and toast. “Teef paid me for helping her this week with the bar, so I walked down and talked to the lady in the item shop while you were in the shower.” Lilli smiled. “I bought some milk… eggs… bread and a few other things.”

Cid nodded to her, his mouth full. He acted like he hadn't eaten in days. Lilli watched him as she nibbled on her toast and couldn't help but wonder; how long had it been since he'd had a meal like this is his own house? He smiled over to her and swallowed.

“S'good Lil.” He murmured between sips of his tea and then proceeded to shovel in some more.

The small place called Rocket Town was a familiar feeling to her… like Tifas bar, it was a place that somehow comforted her. It was far from a bustling community. With a population of maybe 200 people, it was a graveyard compared to Edge… and Lilli loved it. Cids house was placed by the small country road that wound through the town. Down the way she spotted an armor shop and of course the item shop. Seeing a sprinkling of people walking past back and forth she could see plainly that you didn't drive a car here… you walked from point A to point B… how absolutely lovely she thought. This is a dream come true.

Every person who passed by the house waved, or said “Mornin Captain… Mornin miss!”

Lilli was astonished. They didn't care what she looked like! They said good morning to her like she'd lived there forever… now this was heaven. Her attention returned to Cid. Earlier while breakfast was just getting done, he'd scoured the living room and found a pair of pants and a white t-shirt, so he put them on.

“Hey now!” he spoke up when he saw Lillis playful look of disgust.

“There ain't no way in hell I am wearin that flowery shit!”

(The robe she found had roses on it… which Cid proceeded to tell her was a Christmas gift from Tifa and he only kept it in case she came to call… Teef was sensitive about gift giving.)

He began to stand up, but Lilli beat him to it.

“You want some more?”

Cid sat back down as he handed her his empty plate. “I reckon so… got me a shit-load a work waitin for me in the shop.”

Lilli hummed to herself, dishing up the last of the eggs and toast onto his plate. “More tea?”

Cid scratched the back of his neck. “Sure.”

When she returned, he dove into that plate with relish, like he hadn't even eaten previous. Lilli studied him. He licked his fingertips as he finished his toast, grabbing his fork he moved on to the eggs. His eyes shifted to her and he winked over his meal. Lilli blushed, sipping the last of her tea and sighed happily. The feeling of the warm sun on her skin… this place felt like she'd finally came home… she didn't want to leave… ever.

She rose as soon as he was finished with his food and carried his plate into the kitchen. It wasn't until she really looked around that she realized how dirty it was and as she crept over to the sink, her green eyes popped open wide. The sink was covered in oil and axel grease smears and stains… not to mention there were a few machine parts in the bottom of it sitting in what appeared to be a pool of greasy water. She had been in such a hurry to cook, she hadn't really noticed. Lilli sat down the plate on the counter and turned to look at Cid.

He stood next to the door across the way. He was obviously preparing for work. He pulled a worn leather apron off a hook in the wall and tied it around his middle. He then proceeded to walk over to a clipboard hanging on the wall on the other side of the door. Thumbing through a few of the pages, he took a pen out of his apron and made a few marks, muttering under his breath and then turned to make his way to the kitchen. Lilli leaned back against the counter and smiled. He held out his arms as he neared her. “Well, gimmie luvs baby girl, I gotta git workin.”

Lilli put her arms around him and gave him a hug. As his arms surrounded her He closed his eyes, praying she'd still be there when he opened them. He lifted her off the ground, embracing her fully before setting her down carefully. When he finally let her go she reached for his goggles that laid on the counter. She reached up and fitted them in their usual spot on his head and kissed his grizzly chin. “There ya go.”

He chuckled. “Well now, thank ya darlin.”

He walked to the sink, lifted the parts that were soaking in that god-awful muck and proceeded to walk to the door which led outside to the hanger. “Miss me!” he called over his shoulder, and was gone. In his wake he left a trail of greasy drips that led all the way back to the sink. Lilli stared at the trail of oily-gritty goodness, lifted her eyes to look all around her and raised her eyebrows. “Self.” She said out loud. “Looks like you've got some work to do!”

 

 

Once Lilli had all of Cids clothes folded and or hung in his closet, she prayed nothing mutated or hairy was waiting for her in the bathroom. To her relief there wasn't. She flipped on the light switch and all that came from her was: “Whew!”

It wasn't as bad as she thought. The sink and counter was covered in blonde whiskers and soap residue. Luckily his toothbrush was squeaky clean and sitting in the medicine cabinet. The shelves in it were however grody…. So she began taking out items one by one and sorting them.

Lilli picked up a bottle of cologne and smiled to herself. She could just imagine, turning it over and reading on the label: “Eau de Rocket Fuel.” Laughing inside at her own little joke, she continued with the task at hand.

The bathroom didn't take her too long, but she had to admit… after seeing that kitchen, nothing could surprise her now!

Lilli, cleaning bucket in hand said a silent prayer and headed into the kitchen. The sink was the first objective. She wasn't at a loss for cleaning supplies though. There had to have been at least 2 full bottles of surface cleaner with… hmmm… “grease cutting action”??? Lilli roiled her eyes as she stared at the sink…. Go figure.

She whistled to herself as she and the gunk covering the sink went to war with each other. By the time she got to the counter, she had broke quite the sweat…. She didn't care… this was fun and she knew once Cid saw this he'd be pleased… at least she hoped.

The fridge was another story. It looked like the last time it had been cleaned, Cid was probably 6 years old!

 

About three hours, 2 bottles of cleaner, enough sponges to make a small raft, and 3 gallons of sweat later, Lilli stood victorious. It wasn't perfect… a lot of the grease stains on the sink were stubborn and left spots, but it was clean.

The living room was last. There were boxes piled on top of one another with engineers notes, blueprints and every writing utensil known to man.

Lilli sighed and looked at the clock. Noon. She was starving and knew of someone else who probably was as well.

“I'll be back for YOU later.” She said to the living room, washed her hands and started the tea kettle heating on the stovetop.

It felt good to finally take care of someone… someone she loved. Lilli smiled to herself as his face flashed through her mind. He made her happy… she hoped she made him feel just as good.

 

 

Cid shoved his pencil behind his ear and maneuvered his ruler this way and that on his work bench. His shop was nestled snugly on the other side of the hanger. All of his wacky, crazy ideas were hatched in this very room. Cid chewed on the side of his mouth as his brow furrowed. Tweaking blueprints took a lot of time, especially when you've been staring at the same print for 3 hours straight…. You're brain tends to become mush. But he was used to this… he just worked through it like he always did until his second wind came.

He bent over his work, drawing a line being very careful not to shake. Suddenly, his work phone on his desk rang. Cid jumped, making a long black squiggly line across his print. His face immediatly flushed.

“GOD DAMMIT!!” He threw his pencil and stalked over to the phone.

“WHAT??!!”

“Ow… my ear!” Lillis voice squeaked on the other end. Cid rubbed a hand over his face in embarrassment.

“Shit… I'm sorry baby girl.”

“Hey no worries! You hungry?”

He smiled into the phone. She was so forgiving. “Yeah, I was just about ta come in and take a break.”

“OK well, no rush… lunch'll be ready in about 10 minutes ok?”

“Alright.”

He scratched his temple as he hung up the phone. He crossed his arms and leaned back against the desk and stared at his work table. Amazing how just a few words from her could give him a second wind just like that. He shook his head and returned to his print. Maybe she was magic.