Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ My Happy Ending ❯ Pandemonium ( Chapter 21 )

Chapter 21: Pandemonium

“When the tears come streaming down your face
When you lose something you can't replace
When you love someone, but it goes to waste
Could it be worse?”
-Coldplay “Fix You”

Cid sat at his kitchen table as the snow began to lightly fall outside. He drummed his good hand on the kitchen table near a half-empty mug of hot jasmine tea as his other arm hung in its sling against his chest. He'd been cranky and irritable since Raye had left, mostly from his inability to work on the Bronco. Mostly, however, Cid was depressed. Utterly depressed. His fingertip traveled to a spoon lying on the table, and he spun it around lightly before accidentally knocking over his tea with his elbow, the dark fluid spilling out of the cup and rapidly running across the table.

“Shit! God damn it!”

Cid quickly stood up, grabbed a dishtowel, and hurried back to the table to wipe up his mess before the liquid spilled onto the floor. Normally, he would just leave it be and let it drop into a congregated puddle, but he knew if he didn't keep the place clean, Raye would probably put his balls into a vice grip or something equally painful.

He tossed the soiled towel into a hamper and flopped back into his chair without even bothering to refill his cup. His stomach growled at him from the lack of food over the past several days, but Cid's last one-armed cooking attempt was a complete disaster. Hell, he could barely cook with both arms uninjured. He managed to singlehandedly, and quite literally at that, fumble with a large pot of cooked spaghetti noodles before dropping the pot, along with its scalding contents onto the floor, without ever making it to the strainer in the sink. After re-cooking the pasta, Cid struggled with opening a sauce jar, but eventually dropped it onto the floor, shattering the glass and making yet another colossal mess.

Finally, the pilot decided he'd given up. His arm was killing him, he was alone, and he was too proud to ask one of his neighbors to help him, so he chose to ride it out as best he could. He'd always gotten through these things somehow, but when these catastrophes happened, he always had someone there to pick up the pieces - Shera. Maybe she was the reason things like this seemed a little easier. The realization hit him just how much he'd taken her quiet caring nature for granted, and he wondered how she was holding up, how she would react if she saw him struggling like this.

Nah, after the way I treated her, I doubt she'd even give a shit. Can't say I blame her…

He strolled out to his hangar as Captain followed close at his heels making sure that Cid got out there without any trouble. The pilot putzed around for awhile, rummaging through tools, sorting bad parts from good ones, and even attempted to do more with the Bronco, against the doctor's orders to take it easy for awhile. Cid knew the town doctor would probably scold him for doing the very thing that got him in this predicament in the first place, but Raye, on the other hand, would undoubtedly ream him in his ass with the Venus Gospel. A vivid mental image crossed his mind and he shuddered at the thought as he tried to turn a ratchet with his weaker right hand. The ratchet slipped and nearly fell into the engine, but Cid managed to snatch it before it did so.

“Damn it!”

Highwind closed his eyes for a moment, bowing his head before placing the instrument back into his set of tools. He couldn't even immense himself in at least some kind of minor work without it being some sort of epic battle. Finally, Cid decided raised his white flag in defeat and returned to the house with his ever loyal dog by his side.

Meanwhile, Raye sat at the counter of the shop with her head propped in one hand and the fingertips of her free hand drumming the countertop. Her father was down in the shop working on a rather major project, and Brad had left the day before for Costa del Sol. The redhead eyed the phone trying desperately to ignore that nagging, annoying voice in the back of her mind. Finally, the good nature she often kept hidden broke the surface caused her to relent and pick up the phone.

She listened to the ringtone at the other end before an all too familiar voice broke the steady pattern off.

“Hello?”

“Cid?”

“R-Raye?”

Raye frowned a little. He sounded like something was wrong, like he was depressed or something.

“Yeah, it's me.”

“Oh. Um, glad to hear from you.”

Raye arched an eyebrow. That did not sound like Cid at all. “Well, duh. I told you I would call you in a few days.”

“Oh, uh, right.”

There was a pause.

“Everything alright?”

“Yeah. Fine,” Cid replied somewhat dejectedly.

“You don't sound like it.”

“Nah, everything's fine. Just me an' Captain. We're getting along. Yep. Just getting along…”

He trailed off slightly, and the tone of dispiritedness carried in the unusually low pitch of his voice, causing Raye to be a little alarmed.

“Are you sure?” Raye was genuinely concerned. Normally, they would be bickering by now. “I mean, we're usually about to strangle one another by now. That ain't like us.”

Cid ventured a soft snort as a small smile tried to tug at the corners of his mouth. “I'm fine, damn it!”

“Well, that's a little more like it,” Raye replied, unable to resist the smile that spread across her face.  Yet, there was still something about his voice that didn't quite convince her that he was `fine'. “You need any parts or anything while you have me on the line?”

“Nah,” Cid told her. “I'm good. I haven't even installed the parts you brought me before…not like I can anyway…”

“Have you tried? You tried, didn't you?”

“No!” He replied indignantly.

“Bullshit.”

“I did not!”

“Whatever. I know you.”

“You do not!”

“Do too! I'd do the same thing! We're not that different, you know.”

“Shaddup.”

Raye snorted. “Make me. Oh, wait, you'd enjoy that too much.”

“Fuck you, Shields.”

“No thanks, I've had better offers.” She loved getting in the last word. “So, I'll see you later?”

“Yeah, I'll…see you later.”

Raye hung up the phone her brow furrowed in thought. Cooking was hard enough for Cid with two good hands, but one-handed, surely he couldn't do much, unless he was some kind of miracle worker, which she highly doubted. The way he sounded over the phone gave her the unsettling feeling that something wasn't right with him. She inwardly cursed her motherly nature as she stood up from her seat and went down to the shop to visit her father.

“Um, Dad?”

“Yeah?” came his muffled voice from beneath a hood.

“Um, I need to go out to Rocket Town.”

Rick pulled his head from the inner workings of the engine and frowned at his daughter in confusion. “What for?”

“Um…Cid acts like he needs some help, and…he won't admit it, but…”

Rick's nodding cut her off in midsentence. “I swear that man is as stubborn as a wild chocobo. Someone needs to save him from himself. I just know he's probably doing something stupid that'll cause him more pain. He never was good about listening to anyone, especially doctors.”

Raye laughed a little at her father's remark. “I had a feeling…” She paused. “Will you be alright down here until I get back?”

Rick glanced at his watch. “You leaving now?”

“I planned to.”

“It's kinda late, ain't it? I mean you won't get there until way after midnight. You ought to wait until tomorrow morning to leave.”

“Yeah, you're probably right.”

The following morning, Raye was up and about preparing for her trip. She rose earlier than usual so that she could make it out there and maybe come back all in one day. It was a lot of driving, and she'd be tired, but she didn't care. As she changed into a warm sweater, she remembered the picture of Cid she'd inadvertently stolen from him tucked away safely in her underwear drawer.

“Aw crap…”

After getting dressed, she opened the drawer to find the item still hiding away exactly where she had put it. Raye pulled it out and stared at it for a moment. For such a bastard, Cid really was kinda handsome, and she wished she could see him in person in his uniform. For some reason, men always looked dapper in uniforms, and she often had a hard time resisting such hunks, even if their names were Cid Highwind.

Raye closed her eyes, suddenly disgusted with herself. She hurriedly placed the picture in her back pocket, mentally kicking herself for allowing such ridiculous thoughts about him poison her mind. As if Brad wasn't bad enough, she had to go off and get herself all flustered over it.

Raye was out the door, in her truck, and off to Cid's house in a flash, only stopping long enough to lecture Mark and Thomas about failing to do their chores and what could possibly happen to them if they kept up with the slacking.

After several cups of coffee and hours of driving later, Raye finally made it to Cid's house. During the entire trip, she thought about him and slightly regretted leaving him to fend for himself. Yet, he was a grown man, and she figured he'd find a way to manage. And then she thought about how bad his house looked and how little he did to properly take care of himself. It was as though she were housebreaking a puppy. His voice on the phone the evening before was a silent cry for help it seemed, and judging from his character, Cid was not the type of person who would plainly ask for help from her or anyone, for that matter.

Snow had fallen since the last time she visited, crunching beneath the tires of her vehicle as she pulled up to his house. She was unsure if he were in the hangar or if he was even up. She opened the door to get out, the cold air blasting her face as she approached the front door. Giving a loud knock, she stood and waited for him to answer, hoping he wouldn't see her as being too preposterous for showing up out of the blue like this. The door opened after a few moments, and Raye was greeted by a man with a mouthful of food and a look of utter surprise.

“What are you doing here?” he asked. He suddenly hid some kind of wrapped item behind his back in a hurry.

“What are you eating?” Raye asked,

“Yer not supposed to answer a question with a question, dumbass.”

Raye reached around Cid and snatched a Twinkie from the hand behind his back.

“And you're not supposed to eat Twinkies for breakfast, dipshit!” she retorted, waving the pastry in front of him.

“So what? Last I checked this was my house.” He reached out to snatch his breakfast back. “So did you come all the way here just to see if I was eating?”

Raye held the Twinkie out of his reach. “I came to see if you were okay. You had me worried last night.” She pushed her way inside to find that the house was becoming cluttered again. Not that he could really help it, but he could at least put forth the effort. “I see you're reverting back to the pigsty again.”

Cid scowled. “Oh fuck you and the Chocobo you rode in on! I told you I was fine!”

“Oh really? You're eating Twinkies for breakfast and Bahamut knows what for lunch and dinner after I leave you hours of my free time in recipe cards and you prefer a Twinkie?!” She tossed the Twinkie back into an already half-eaten box.

Cid scratched the back of his head. “Yesterday it was Ho-Ho's. Those things are damn good.”

Raye rolled her eyes and stormed past Cid toward his bedroom, remembering the picture in her pocket. “Get into the truck.”

Cid was dumbfounded. “Um, what?”

“And pitch those Twinkies! We'll stop for some real food on the way.”

Cid cocked his head and strode toward his room where Raye was up to her elbows in his underwear drawer just now stuffing the picture into its rightful place.

“Um, whaddaya mean by `on the way'?” He paused to see Raye rummaging in his underwear drawer, of all places. It was one thing when she was just grabbing a pair for him while he was showering but this? “Um…Raye…” His face turned slightly red.

Raye, however, knew how this would look, so she reverted to her most familiar defense - anger. “Here! Pack your own shit, then!”

Relieved that the picture was back in its drawer, she withdrew her hands and searched for a suitcase of some kind. She pulled out a duffel bag and turned around to see a pair of Cid's blue boxer briefs laying openly on top of the small pile of clothes he'd formed on the floor. An image of how that pair of underwear would look on him flitted through her mind for a split second and she shook it off. She tossed the duffle bag toward him.

“Come on! Get a move on!”

“What the hell is going on?!” Cid demanded.

“Pack your shit before I come over there and break your other arm!”

Cid complied hastily and dumped his clothes in the bag. He didn't like the idea of being a complete cripple, and he honestly wouldn't put it past her to do something like that to him. No sooner had the last shirt gone in and the bag was tied up, Raye snatched it up and took it out to the truck, Cid following behind in a confused daze. He had no clue what was going on at all, and he wanted answers.

She chucked his belongings into the bed of the truck and flung open the passenger side door.

“Lock the door, get your dog, and get your ass in here!”

The pilot jumped and flustered a little, grabbing his keys, a coat, and running to the door. He paused, cursed, and ran back into the house, tucked Captain under his good arm and hurried out. He put the dog down, dropped the keys, held his familiar blue flight jacket between his teeth, dropped the coat, picked up the keys, locked the house, threw the coat over his shoulders because it was too much work to get it on over his cast in a hurry, grabbed Captain, and ran for Raye's truck. The vehicle was already running, passenger door thrown open, and starting to roll ever so slightly.

“Holy Shiva…” he muttered as he slammed the door closed.

“What the hell kept you?” She grabbed a CD from a holder in the visor and put it in.

“What the fuck is going on?!” Cid yelled his voice cracking.

“I told you! You're coming home with me! Remember?” Raye answered. “I'm just a couple of weeks early.”

Cid blinked. “Oh. Um…why so early? I was gonna drive to you.”

Raye glanced over at the pilot. “So I can keep an eye on you, that's why! Those Twinkies and the way your house looked just confirmed you need potty training!”

“Oi! I like Twinkies!”

“For breakfast?!”

“I had a craving!”

“Yeah…sure. And you `had a craving' for Ho-Ho's yesterday, right?”

“Well, um…”

“You know what? Don't even bother with an excuse. You can barely cook with two good arms, and having only one is like trying to move Mt. Nibel in your case. You're coming home with me where there's real food.”

“Erm, thanks?” The blond scratched his head befuddled. “I thought you couldn't stand me?”

“I can't, but I can't stand to see you suffer, either.”

“Won't Brad give you shit about this?”

Raye snorted. “Brad, much to my absolute glee, is in Costa del Sol helping his girlfriend open up her shop. He won't be a problem - until he gets back.”

“And when does he get back?”

Raye grinned. “Not until the week before Christmas. So I have a week that will be idiot-free.”

Cid laughed. “Sounds like that's a Christmas gift all in itself.”

“No shit, man,” she agreed. “You know, I would bet you that truckload of parts I delivered to you that he gets some action.”

“Ha ha, I'll be sure to ask him.”

“You won't have to,” she said with a huge smile. “The boy can't hide anything to save his life.”

“Sounds to me like he probably needs it.”

Raye giggled.

“I'm right, ain't I?”

“You could be,” she told him smugly. “And I intend to confirm that.”

Cid again laughed as they drove on to Midgar. He was rather happy to finally have some company, and Raye was actually kinda fun when she didn't have her panties all in a bunch. In fact, he enjoyed the ride home with her and the conversations they held during the long drive. Once in awhile Cid would push her buttons to get her fired up because she was so entertaining when she was pissed off, albeit in a scary way, but it was hilarious to fuck with her nonetheless. However, her actions contradicted her words so much that Cid couldn't help but wonder if Raye truly hated him or if she only said that to keep from admitting that she actually enjoyed his company.

They went quiet for a few hours, and Cid could tell she was getting tired from driving. As the scenery rolled past him, the pilot decided that maybe, just maybe they could be compatible friends. She would be just like one of the guys…