Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ My Happy Ending ❯ A Day in the Life ( Chapter 8 )

Chapter 8: A Day in the Life

“Woke up, fell out of bed,

Dragged a comb across my head.

Found my downstairs and drank a cup,

And looking up, I noticed I was late.

Found my coat and grabbed my hat,

Made the bus in seconds flat.

Found my way upstairs and had a smoke,

Then someone spoke, and I went into a dream…”

-The Beatles “A Day in the Life”

The following morning, Raye awoke early, dressed, and went downstairs. She had momentarily forgotten that Cid had stayed over last night, so she was rather startled to see a blonde-haired man sound asleep on her couch. The girl crept past the pilot, taking care not to wake him up, but she couldn't help but to pause and stare at him a minute almost contemplating a rude awakening. He looked unusually peaceful, aside from the god awful snoring, so she decided to leave him alone and go about her own business.

“Man, why can't he be that quiet all the time?” Raye thought.

The woman entered the kitchen and began to get out a few things to make breakfast. Her father had already left earlier that morning, and Raye was sure there was a list of work to be done down in the shop. Brad came downstairs as well and headed straight for the shop to get a head start on the day's tasks.

Raye got out a frying pan and turned on the heat to the stove. While that was heating, she broke out a dozen eggs, cracked all of them into a bowl, added a bit of milk, and swished the mixture with a whisk until it turned a light yellow color. She put in about 2 tablespoons of butter and swirled it around in the hot pan. She poured the eggs into the frying pan, and with another pan, she proceeded to fry some bacon and sausages. Raye quickly reached up and switched on a radio that was sitting on a windowsill, as it was too quiet for her taste in the kitchen. The music wasn't loud, and the dial was set on some kind of oldies station. Raye's father listened to old music, and she and the rest of her siblings grew up on the same kind of songs. The redhead actually enjoyed older music, although she usually listened to this particular genre down in the shop with Rick. However, she was in more of a mellow mood this morning, so she decided against switching stations. Besides, the DJ was playing all the good ones today.

Meanwhile in the living room, Cid began to stir on the sofa when the scent of frying eggs, bacon, and sausage wafted into his nostrils. His blue eyes fluttered open, and came into focus, and he almost thought he was in his own home until he gathered his senses and realized that he was indeed not back in Rocket Town and that it wasn't Shera who was cooking breakfast. His ears noticed the faint music coming from the radio in the kitchen, and he strained to make out what the song was.

And here's to you Mrs. Robinson

Jesus loves you more than you will know, oh oh oh.

God bless you please Mrs. Robinson

Heaven holds a place for those who pray, hey hey hey.

Cid knew the tune, although he hadn't heard it since he was a young child and his mother was alive. He sat up on the couch and placed his feet on the floor. Putting on his boots and running a hand through his hair a couple of times, he went to investigate the kitchen in the hopes that maybe he'd get a free breakfast, too.

The opening of the kitchen door interrupted Raye's tranquility. She glanced back hoping it was one of her other brothers coming from upstairs, but she was only graced by Cid's presence.

“Well, this is one way to kill a good mood,” Raye muttered.

Cid glared at Raye. “Well, good mornin' to you, too!”

“You want some tea?” Raye offered dryly. She was going to be glad to get Cid out of her house and off to wherever it was that he lived.

“If ya don't mind,” Cid replied just as curtly. He would be glad to get away from Raye, and he hoped he wouldn't have to see her again unless it was completely necessary.

Raye sighed, glanced at the clock on the radio, and boiled some water for Cid's tea. She knew her brothers had to be waking up soon. Jamie and the twins were usually pretty good about getting out of bed on time, but Brian was a completely different story. Usually the teen would hit the snooze button to the point where the redhead had to personally go upstairs and drag the boy out of bed to keep him from being late for school. Just as she suspected, Jamie, Thomas and Mark came downstairs and into the kitchen.

“Where's Brian, boys?” Raye asked already knowing the answer.

“Same place he always is this time of day,” Jamie answered. “I tried to wake him up to save you a trip, but he wouldn't get up.”

“I shouldn't have asked - here you go, Cid - I already knew the answer to that before I even thought of it,” Raye said as she handed the cup of tea to Cid. “You guys wait out in the dining room - I'm almost done.”

The boys exited out the kitchen door, and Raye went over to a cabinet, pulled out a large pan, and began filling it with water.

“Having trouble gettin' one up?” Cid asked.

“Yup. Teenagers are a real pain in the ass,” Raye replied. “But he's about to get one very rude awakening.”

“What's the pan for?”

“You'll see in a minute.”

Raye finished filling the pan with cold water, and she set this aside. She finished cooking the food and put out the chow for everyone to eat.

“Help yourself, Cid,” Raye instructed, making her way toward the stairs.

Cid nodded and began to dig in with the other boys as Raye disappeared up the steps carrying the pan. The pilot couldn't help but to wonder what was going to go on. Curious, he got up from the table, ventured out into the living room, and peered up the stairs.

Not more than a second later, Cid heard Brian scream and yell at the top of his lungs.

“YAAAAAGGGGHHHH! RAYE YOU LITTLE BITCH!!!”

Raye soon came flying down the stairs with the large pan, now empty, dangling behind her as she ran past Cid and into the kitchen. The boy was hot on her tail, and not to mention, sopping wet. Brian's brothers at the table burst into howls of laughter as they watched the commotion ensue.

“DAMN YOU, RAYE! I AM GONNA KICK YOUR ASS!” the boy yelled.

“Well get your lazy ass out of bed!!!!” Raye hollered back as she began to laugh. The look on her brother's face was priceless when she dumped that water on him, and she wished she had a picture or a replay button to see it again.

Brian burst into the kitchen in nothing but his boxers and a white undershirt. Raye scrambled toward the backdoor, but she was unable to get it open to make an escape. She opened the door, ran into the thing causing it to close and her to bounce back abruptly. She turned around and saw Brian coming at her furiously. Raye ducked under her younger brother and began to run, but her ponytail yanked her back awkwardly.

“You are not getting away that easy!” Brian yelled.

He put her in a headlock, but since the girl was taller and stronger than he was, she easily lifted him up onto her back. He pulled at her hair, but she was so used to hair pulling that she did not even flinch. In fact, she was laughing even harder than before. Cid had returned to the kitchen with a plate of food and decided to amuse himself by watching the two attempt to kill one another whilst he ate and sipped on his tea. The redhead backed hard against the wall and smashed her brother against it a few times.

“Oof…Ow!!! Ooof…dammit!” he yelped as he let go and hit the floor.

Cid raised one eyebrow, as he had to admit that she was one tough broad. Brian got up off the floor as Raye was going to the backdoor to call in Brad when she felt Brian jump on her back and start whaling on her hard. She was just playing, but now it was out of hand, and Raye had enough.

“Get off me NOW! Enough is enough!” Raye hollered.

She took her brother into a headlock, bent down, and flung him over her shoulder and onto the floor as hard as she could. He landed with a loud THUMP and lay there in a bit of a daze for a brief moment.

“Damn, Raye, don't kill the poor guy,” Cid said.

Well, I'd like to kill you, but I can't,” she replied. “At least not here.”

“Are you threatening me?” the pilot said between clenched teeth. He was about to open his mouth and say something else when Brian sat up dazedly.

“Ugh, that hurt…” the teenager trailed as he picked himself off the floor.

“The first time was just a little joke,” Raye chided. “I wouldn't have gotten so rough if you hadn't jumped on me.”

“A joke? A freakin' joke?! That was a mean joke!!”

“Yeah, well, get your lazy ass out of bed like you're supposed to!”

Brian sighed and looked at the clock on the radio. “Oh crap! I'm gonna be late!”

Raye looked up and noted the time. Ten `til 8. “Aw Shit! Get a move on!”

Brian ran upstairs, and after just a few minutes, came back down cramming his homework into his bag. He grabbed a sausage, crammed it into his mouth, took two pieces of toast, and ran out the door without a word.

Raye sighed and rolled her eyes. “Oi…”

“You look like yer hands are pretty damned full,” Cid said from the table. Raye glared at him annoyed.

“You're still here?”

“Well, fine, I'll just leave, then. Thanks for the breakfast,” Cid remarked with a shrug.

Raye scowled at the pilot. “Good riddance.”

Just then, Brian huffed into the door. “Sis…I…missed the bus.”

“Oh…son of a bitch!” the redhead hissed. She turned to Cid. “Well, if you're leaving, you're gonna have to let yourself out. I have to drive jackass over here to school.”

Brian sulked a little bit at her remark. He knew well it was his own fault he missed his ride to school. “Sorry…”

“You ought to be. I don't have time to drive you across town all the time! I got work to do today, and I have to get things done before Dad gets back. Goddammit, why can't anything ever go smoothly?”

Raye grabbed a set of keys to a car and went out the door with Brian following behind.

“See ya, Cid,” the boy said as sulkily followed his sister.

Cid nodded as the door slammed behind Raye. Jamie, Mark, and Brian decided that it was time to take their leave, too. They bid the pilot goodbye and left leaving Cid alone. He decided to at least go down to the shop and let Brad know that he was leaving. He kinda liked the guy, really. The younger brother was a hell of a lot nicer than Raye.

He went out the backdoor and peeked into the shop. Brad was under a hood investigating a problem with a car. The pilot cleared his throat and the boy turned around.

“Hey, man,” Brad said. He looked at his watch. “Where's my sister?”

“Uh, your sister had to take - what's his name - oh, Brian to school,” Cid explained.

“Again? Damn, that's the second time this week! So, I take it you're leaving?”

“Uh, yeah. I got a long way to go.”

“Ah, well, see ya later, then!”

Cid turned from the shop door and exited the same way he came in the night before. He started his truck and began to drive through the streets of Midgar, or, what was left of it, and went back to Rocket Town, possibly to work on his airplane while waiting for his parts.

Later back in the shop…

Brad and Raye worked in the garage to get everything done. She had already test-drove and sent home several vehicles, but the two still had several more waiting to be repaired. Business was hectic for the Shields mechanics as there were many cars to be fixed and parts to be delivered because so many people were without transportation in the little time after Meteor had almost destroyed the planet.

It was around four months after the planet fought back against Meteor, and Thanksgiving was just around the corner. Raye figured that every person had one common thing to be thankful for this year: to be alive. The events scared the hell out of Raye to no end, and she didn't want to stand by and watch herself and her family be destroyed. Even though the Planet fought back, there was no celebration in the streets afterward. The city was full of dead or dying people, and everyone who lived on the top plate lost their home, including the Shields family. Luckily, they took refuge in Cosmo Canyon so their grandmother wouldn't be alone, took their irreplaceable items there, and left them in her care.

When the family returned to the city, they found their home and shop destroyed, along with countless others, and they had to begin from scratch. It was difficult over the past several months to rebuild a new home and restart a business, and they were just now getting back all the regular production. To make matters worse in the city, a new disease developed called Geostigma, and the doctors and scientists were baffled by it. The only thing they knew was that children seemed to be affected by it the most, although it was perfectly possible that adults could get it, but it wasn't likely.

Raye and her family were moving on just as everyone else was, and it seemed that people were more compassionate to one another since Meteor fell. She had never seen such a coordinated effort amongst the masses in the city to rebuild and rejuvenate. Shin-Ra's evil doings were exposed, and a new organization was set up called the WRO. Raye saw fliers and billboards around the city, and upon asking around, she discovered that the WRO was a volunteer organization that helped people to rebuild their destroyed lives. The organization even set up a new orphanage facility, and Raye decided to volunteer to help sort out the orphaned from the ones who didn't know if their parents had survived or not. Raye loved children, and she felt it would be her way of helping in the effort to revitalize the planet. She worked down at the facility about twice a week, and Thomas would sometimes accompany her to help entertain the kids.

“Raye?” Brad's voice interrupted her thoughts.

“Yeah?”

“I think Dad said earlier that those parts'll be coming in today or tomorrow. Did he happen to say where they were going?”

Raye giggled. “Ah, I know where this is going. I'm not sure where they're all going, but I do believe Dad has one destination written down as Rocket Town.”

“Really?” Brad replied hopefully.

“You want to see Shera, don't you?”

“What do you think?”

Raye laughed. She hadn't seen her brother so taken by a girl in a long time. “You ought to give her a call later. Did she give you her number?”

“Ah, well, no, she said she doesn't have a phone, yet. She was still settling in.”

“I see. Well, talk to Dad about it later. Maybe we can make the deliveries on the West Continent the last ones,” Raye explained. “That way, I can just drop you off in Costa del Sol and come back after you later. It'll be at least a four hour drive one way.”

“Yeah, so, I could have a lot of time with her,” Brad replied almost dazedly.

Raye giggled at her brother's love-struck behavior and threw an empty oilcan at her brother. “Focus!”

Brad laughed, shook himself out of his minor trance, and returned to his work.

Later that evening, Raye and her father went over the bookwork of the business as well as the list of deliveries to be made.

“Well, let's see…” Rick said. “We have a huge order to go to Rocket Town that I have to call about tomorrow. Most of the others are on this side, though.”

“Dad?”

“Yeah?”

“You mind if the Rocket Town one went last?”

“How come?”

“Well, Brad wants to ride with me so he can get to Costa del Sol.”

“What's over there?” Rick asked confused.

“A girl,” Raye replied with a grin.

“Oh, yeah?”

“He hasn't told you?!”

“Nope, but I know you will, so spill it.”

Raye excitedly began to explain everything about Shera and Brad as her father listened.

“So,” he said after she finished. “He's smitten with a woman, huh?”

“Yep.”

“Have you met her?”

“No, but I'd like to.”

“Well, in that case, I can handle the work for a day, so go ahead and have Brad go with you. He sounds like he really likes this gal.”

Raye beamed. “Thank you so much! I can't wait to tell him!”

Raye and Rick continued to work on the bookwork until late in the evening. Afterwards, Raye approached Brad with the news that he would get to ride with her after all. When the younger brother went to sleep later that night, he could hardly contain his excitement as he fell asleep thinking of Shera.