Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ My Happy Ending ❯ Walking Away ( Chapter 4 )

Chapter 4: Walking Away

“I still feel safe and sound

But it's time to break new ground

And turn my life around.

I've wasted too much time

On things I could not find -

I leave this place behind.”

-Ian Van Dahl “Walking Away”

During the days that Cid was fending for himself, Shera encountered hardships of her own. She traveled mostly on foot, lugging her suitcase filled with what little belongings she had, her sewing machine, and a conscience filled with both guilt and uncertainty.

She felt guilty, mainly because she left Cid without a single word. Shera thought maybe she ought to go back, but she decided against it. Cid would be even angrier than he was before, and she was afraid that he would actually end up telling her to leave anyway if that's what she wanted. Even if she did stay, would she want to live with things unchanged between them, to be at the mercy of his constant bellowing and unscrupulous tirades? Either way, it would not end well.

She also felt uncertain. Shera could go back to her parents' home for a while - it would be good to see them, but she did not want them to hold a grudge against Cid, although it indeed was a bit late for that. That and she was ashamed of what her parents called `living in sin'. Her parents were quite old fashioned - they believed that a woman should not live with a man unless they were married. Shera and Cid had an unconventional relationship, if you could call it a relationship at all, whether platonic or romantic, the latter being that they were not. It was of no use to tell her parents that, but they still hoped that Cid would marry their daughter and make things right in their book, but Shera could never convince her parents that she was merely his assistant, offering her aide to him in exchange for a place to sleep. Besides not wanting to deal with her parents' nagging, she was 29. She was a grown adult, and she wanted a place of her own - her own privacy.

Shera went to Alice's house on the night that she left, and arrived at the tailor's residence in a most distressed state of mind. Again, Shera had no real friends, but the welcoming character of Alice's personality made her the first choice for someone to trust.

Shera knocked on Alice's door around ten o'clock that night, and Alice opened it up in her nightgown and housecoat. The seamstress was rather surprised to see Shera standing on her front doorstep with her suitcase and machine in hand.

“Shera!” Alice exclaimed. “What brings you here so late?”

“I…I apologize, Alice, for the hour, but I need to stay here tonight,” Shera replied dejectedly.

Alice noticed that Shera had obviously been crying, and she seemed very distraught. The older woman took Shera's suitcase and hustled the engineer inside.

“What is the matter, dear?” Alice asked. “Please, sit down.”

Shera put down the heavy sewing machine and entered Alice's parlor. The woman snapped off the television program she was watching and offered Shera something to drink. Shera politely declined as she began to tell Alice of the events that took place in the Highwind house, and her reasons for wanting to leave.

Alice took in all this information and thought it over for a few moments before speaking. “I see,” she said after Shera finished. “Are you sure you wouldn't rather stay here and try to work things out with the Captain in the morning? You know how he is - he's quick to anger, but he'll soon forget about it.”

“Why? So I can just bungle things again as I always do and have him yell at me and call me names, and make me feel like crap? I've taken this abuse for the past five years, Alice. Enough is enough.”

“So why did you stay as long as you did?” Alice asked. Soon her cat came purring into the room and jumped into Shera's lap.

“I stayed because I felt I owed him a debt for ruining his dream,” Shera answered as she stroked the grey cat. “I…I loved the Captain, even though it is unrequited. Still I loved him. I loved him so much I was willing to die to make his dream come true because it meant so much to him. Over the years I found myself wondering how different things would have been if I hadn't been down there trying to perfect that oxygen tank and what would have been if the launch went successfully.”

“But it was successful after a bit of time, right?”

“It was, but it only took five years for him to see I was right about it in the first place,” Shera said. “After that I wondered if things would be different between us. I hoped he would respect me again, and maybe, just maybe he and I could take it further. How wrong I was…”

Alice shook her head. “So why do you feel the need to leave?”

“I want to find my own path in life,” Shera explained. “I want to be able to make my own decisions, to work at my own pace without someone breathing down my spine, and I want to be my own critic. I want to have a life. I have nothing here. The Captain doesn't love me. He never has, and he never will. I have no real friends, except maybe you, and my family hasn't seen me in years because I'm too ashamed to come home. And now I'm beginning to think that maybe engineering wasn't really right for me.”

“But you were chosen for the Space Program because you were one of the best,” Alice pointed.

“But I was too slow,” Shera replied. “Besides, I'm burnt out on it, anyway, and I just need a break.”

“Well, I believe that we all get burnt out at some point. If you really feel that leaving is the answer to finding your path, then do it. A word of advice, though: don't leave to run away because your problems will always catch up with you eventually.”

Shera nodded as she pondered this advice. The engineer knew deep down she was leaving to run away, but once she found her path and what she wanted to do, then maybe, just maybe she would consider giving Cid a call and explaining all of this - if he wasn't too angry with her to listen, that is.

Alice took Shera to an upstairs guest room and bid her goodnight after their conversation. One of the men of Rocket Town always headed out to North Corel around dawn to work in the newly re-opened coalmines there, so Shera decided she would hitch a ride with him. However, there was a favor she wanted to ask of Alice.

“Alice?” Shera ventured.

“Yes?”

“I know the Captain will be looking for me tomorrow once he finds I left. If he comes here, please don't say anything.”

Alice looked at Shera. “I don't know if I can hold it from him…”

Shera nodded her head and began to plead. “Please promise you won't say anything. Just tell him I was here and that I left in the morning. Don't say anything about our talk, and tell him I don't want to be found. That's all I ask. Please?”

“Alright, Shera. I won't if the Captain asks. If you don't wanna be found, then he has to respect that, right?”

“Let's hope so.”

Before the break of dawn, Shera left with the man who worked in North Corel. He usually went to work before daylight and came home after sunset. Nevertheless, just to be safe, Shera asked of him the same favor she did of Alice. The man pledged his silence, and took her as far as he would go. After that, the rest was up to her.

Shera arrived in North Corel, and she was dropped off on one of the main roads. The town was in the process of reconstruction, with Barret Wallace as the man who was heading it. The coalmine workers clocked in with their time cards and went below the earth via the shaft, their source of income and prosperity renewed when they decided to shut down the reactor there now that Shin-Ra had gone belly up after the events of Meteor.

Shera walked along the road on the outskirts of town hauling her heavy sewing machine and her suitcase. After several miles and hours of tiredly walking and lugging her things, Shera heard thunder above her head and looked up. The sky that was once sunny was now an ominous dark grey as the rain clouds formed and began blowing in a cold front. As it began to sprinkle, Shera remembered her umbrella hanging on the coat rack back at Cid's house.

“Oh, this is nice,” Shera sarcastically thought.

Soon the sky opened up, and the sprinkling of raindrops turned into a downpour, soaking Shera through to the skin. Still, she continued on foot to wherever it was she was going, which was somewhere and nowhere at the same time.

Cars passed her by, not slowing down or even acknowledging she was there. Another sped through a large puddle on the road sending a wall of water over Shera's head, soaking her even more, and aggravating her to no end. People were so rude these days!

As the engineer stood there shivering and shaking off the water on the side of the road, one vehicle slowed down, pulled to the side of the road, and stopped. A young man's head poked out from the window, and he called to her.

“Miss! You need a ride somewhere?”

Shera looked up at him with relief on her face. There was no way she could refuse a lift after what she was going through. This traveling thing was hard, and she decided that perhaps she should have thought things through a bit more.

“Yes! Please!” Shera called back.

The young man, who was driving an old, beat-up pick up truck, hopped out and ran to Shera in the rain.

“Here, let me take those,” he offered, taking Shera's possessions.

The man put Shera's belongings under a tarp that covered the bed of the truck, and the two got into the cab of the vehicle. Shera looked at the man. He was young, indeed, around 25 years old. He had green eyes and dark brown wavy hair that was slightly spiked, and his face was clean-shaven. The chap had a slightly muscular build to him, and he wore a white jacket, grey top, and a pair of dark blue cargo jeans. Shera couldn't help but to notice that he was a rather good-looking fellow, and instantly she blushed and looked down.

“You must be cold!” the man said when he noticed Shera shivering. “There's a blanket behind the seat. Wrap yourself in it. Here, let me turn on the heater.”

The young lad reached down and twisted a couple of knobs, allowing for a blast of nice warm air to blow on Shera from the vents. She turned and pulled a folded blanket from behind her seat and wrapped it tightly around her shoulders. She would have to think of someway to repay his kindness.

“I'm Brad, by the way,” he said. “What's your name, and where are you headed?”

“Sh…Shera,” she shyly replied, as was her nature. “And I have no idea where I'm going.”

“Shera…that's a pretty name,” Brad replied.

Shera giggled and blushed a bit. She wasn't used to such kind attention from the opposite sex.

“Thanks.”

“So you have no idea where you're going? So does that mean you're going nowhere and somewhere at the same time?” Brad jokingly said.

“I suppose,” Shera replied with a slight smile. “How far are you going?”

“Well, I'm actually going all the way back to what's left of Midgar, but I'll drive you anywhere you want.”

“I'm going at least as far as Costa del Sol. I'll decide when I get there whether I want to continue.”

“Sure thing,” Brad replied. There was a bit of a pause, and the younger man spoke. “I'm kind of relieved I get to go home. I had a job working on the locomotive in North Corel, so I was there overnight. The miners and I finished this morning, and I think my sister has more parts for me to deliver.”

“Parts? What is it that you do for a living?”

“Well, me, my dad, and my sister are mechanics. We have a parts business as well as a towing service and a garage. My sister and I are often contracted to work on jobs in other towns, make part deliveries, and we help with the workload in our garage. It's actually more like three businesses,” Brad explained.

“Ah, I see.”

“What about you? Where you from, and what do you do?”

“I'm from Kalm Town originally, but I lived in Rocket Town for the past five years as an assistant on Shin-Ra's old space program. I am an engineer.”

“Wow! That's awesome! I guess we rather have something in common to talk about. Tell me about the space program.”

Shera told Brad about the program, the failed launch, and her staying with `the Captain' to repay her debt. Not once, however, did Shera mention Cid's name, other than referring to him as `the Captain'.

“So how come you left?” Brad inquired.

Shera told Brad about the things that took place, and what happened between her and `the Captain'. She told him most of what she told Alice, including the fact that she did it out of love for her Captain.

Brad frowned when he heard Shera's story of her ill treatment over the years.

“You know, this `Captain' of yours truly is a blind fool,” Brad told her.

“Why is that?”

Brad looked at Shera with his gorgeous green eyes and said in all seriousness, “Because he's too arrogant to see what a nice and wonderful person you are.”

Shera blushed a bit and looked down. “You…you don't know me that well…”

“Sorry…I…didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable, but I'm usually a pretty good judge of character. I may have only known you for these past few hours, but I can already tell you are a sweet, kind, intelligent, and wonderful person. And not to mention, kind of cute, if you don't mind me saying so,” Brad replied with a slight smile.

Shera blushed even more and looked down in her lap. She was not used to being called `cute' or `sweet', or even `intelligent'. Cid mostly insulted her, his favorite adjectives being `slow' and `stupid', among other kinds of invectives. It was a change to hear something nice that was for sure.

“We're almost to Costa del Sol,” Brad said. “Are you hungry? I definitely am!”

Shera thought for a moment. She ate last night, but she was so distraught that she did not finish her dinner, and she didn't even have a bite to eat for breakfast before she left. Shera's stomach gurgled loudly, and she embarrassedly looked down at her tummy as Brad burst out laughing.

“I take it that's a yes?” he said with a boyish giggle.

Shera nodded with a slightly embarrassed smile, and Brad continued.

The city of Costa del Sol was a happy, tropical place that was popular among tourists, making it a prosperous settlement. Costa del Sol was also the gateway to the rest of the Eastern Continent. A ferry left at scheduled times to take you far across the ocean to Junon, the gateway to the Western Continent. Costa del Sol had a lot to offer under that tropical sun - surfing, boating, water skiing, basking on the beach, swimming, scuba diving, sky surfing, even scenic airplane rides. The food, Shera heard, was excellent, the people were nice, and there were a great number of merchants who sold just about anything you wanted - jewelry, surfing and scuba equipment, spices, and other souvenirs to remind you of your pleasant visit.

Once Brad and Shera reached Costa del Sol, the two exited the vehicle. Shera's clothes were still damp from the rain, now long gone behind them, but the heater inside the truck kept her warm.

“Your clothes are still wet,” Brad said. “Wouldn't you rather change? You'll feel better.”

Shera pondered this a moment. “Yes, I believe I will.”

Brad loosened the tarp covering the bed of the truck and handed Shera's suitcase to her. She opened it up and chose a pastel pink top with small lavender flowers printed on the material. The top was a sleeveless one that wrapped around and tied at the side. Then she picked a lavender long full skirt to match with a pair of brown leather sandals. After she was done, she handed her suitcase back to Brad.

“If you want, we can dry your damp clothes in the Inn's Laundromat,” Brad suggested. “That way they won't have to be in your suitcase and make the rest of your things wet.”

Shera nodded in agreement and went inside the Inn with the man. She went to the ladies' room to change out of her clothes, rearranged her hair, and came back out with her damp things in hand. They went to the Laundromat and deposited her clothes into a coin operated dryer.

“You look cute, by the way. Now let's eat while your belongings dry.”

Brad smiled at Shera, and it was obvious he was flirting with her. Shera smiled shyly back at Brad, unused to this type of attention. They continued on to a restaurant down the cobblestone street.

Brad held the door open for Shera, as a gentleman should, and the two sat down in a comfortable booth. The server came to take their orders, both of them ordering a Coke. Shera would have ordered an iced tea, but tea reminded her too much of Cid and Rocket Town. Besides, she wanted something different, and it had been a long time since she drank a soda.

“What to eat, amigos?” the waiter asked.

“I'll have a fajita rellena quesadilla,” Brad said. “How about you?”

“Ummm…” Shera hesitated as she looked over the menu. “I'll have…a single order of steak fajitas.”

The waiter smiled, collected their menus, and went off to have the kitchen fix their food. When the server returned, she set before them their meals, and the two began eating. Shera was hungry, and she easily would have eaten a Chocobo, given the chance, but she didn't want to come off as a glutton. Brad and Shera ate their respective meals, talked and laughed. She didn't feel so shy around the slightly younger man. In fact, Shera found Brad to be easy to talk to, intelligent, and he possessed a good sense of humor.

Once they were done, the server brought the bill, but she noticed Shera's outfit.

“I love your top!” the tan skinned girl exclaimed in a thick Costa del Sol accent. “Where did you buy that?”

“I didn't buy it,” Shera answered. “I made it.”

“It's beautiful! If it were in a store, I'd buy it!”

“Really? Thank you!”

The waitress walked off leaving Shera with a smile. She was proud that her efforts on that sewing machine paid off.

“Now there's an idea,” Brad said.

“Idea?” Shera asked.

“Yeah, you should open some kind of tailoring shop. Besides, what could be better than living in a tropical paradise and running your own business?”

“Ah, well…I don't know…”

“You should look into it. It would be great. This place is a haven for tourism. I bet you'd make a lot of Gil tailoring things and selling them.”

Shera and Brad left the restaurant, the bill being Brad's treat, and went back to the Inn to retrieve her things from the dryer. As Shera walked, she noticed a FOR RENT sign in the window of where a small shop once was. She looked away. Would it be possible for her to open and manage her own business? She was excellent in mathematics, and besides an engineering degree, she had one in business management as well. The more Shera thought about it, the more she wanted to try it. She could work her own hours, be her own manager, and work at her own pace doing something that she enjoyed.

Brad and Shera reached the truck.

“So are you going across with me, or do you want to stay here?” he asked.

“You know,” Shera said thoughtfully. “I think I'll stay. I always wanted to visit this place, and it'll give me time to think.”

“Okay,” Brad replied. There was a pause. “You know, I may be going out on a limb here, but how about when you get settled somewhere, you give me a call, and maybe we can, uh, you know, go out. I mean, if you want to, that is.”

Shera was taken a little by surprise, but she could not refuse the offer nonetheless. She could use a few friends, and here was her chance to make at least one, especially a cute one.

“Sure,” she finally said.

“Great!” Brad gave her a business card with his number at work, home, and his cell number as well as his email address. “Oh, and if you call work or home and a girl picks up, don't worry. It's my older sister. I live in a family of five siblings; my sister's kind of the boss.”

“Ah, okay.”

Shera placed the card in her pocket, thanked the man graciously for dinner, and the two bid each other goodbye.

Brad hopped in his truck and drove off to the docks where the ferry awaited. As he did, however, he couldn't get Shera off his mind. She was so adorable, and her shy way made Shera all the more mysterious to him.

Shera went back to the building for rent on the boulevard she had just traveled. It was probably too late to inquire about it, but she decided she would call first thing in the morning. For now, Shera checked into the Inn, took a hot, relaxing bath, read a book for a while, and went to bed.