With Yuffie's sudden appearance, a rather strange atmosphere settled over the bar, completely overshadowing the recent shared joy for Barret, who now once again had two normal arms instead of his habitual machine gun. Yuffie herself, absolutely failing to notice the awkwardness hanging in the air, slipped deeper into the hall and literally on the fly jumped onto a chair at the bar counter.
Swinging her legs while waiting for lemonade, Yuffie greedily wandered her gaze over those present, as if once again making sure she had come to the right address. Everyone else was also examining the uninvited guest with undisguised interest. However, the ninja's own attention instantly switched the moment a frosted glass of cold drink was placed in front of her. Alex, sitting at a table with Dean and Aerith, sincerely wondered: by what twist of fate had Yuffie been brought here of all places?
As far as Alex remembered, she was supposed to make contact with a completely different Avalanche cell, planning with their help to steal rare Materia from Shinra. Shaking his head, Alex decided not to bother his head with this for now and rose from his seat to help Tifa clean up the consequences of the surgical intervention and wash away the blood that had flooded a decent portion of the floor and table.
While the cleanup was going on in the bar, Yuffie began frankly choking on boredom because no one was talking to her. Quickly finishing the lemonade, she jumped down from the high seat and began chaotically wandering around the premises, examining everything that caught her eye. And the moment her gaze latched onto the large Buster Sword standing right next to Claudia, Yuffie instantly flared with predatory excitement.
Seeing no obstacles in front of her, Yuffie bounced over to the weapon and already extended her fingers to touch the relic, but immediately received a tangible smack on the palm and met Claudia's icy, threatening gaze.
"Don't touch," Claudia said in a cold tone, looking down at Yuffie.
"I wasn't even going to touch it! Big deal, some huge sword… I've seen hundreds of iron sticks like that! Hmph!" Yuffie declared with maximum feigned disdain, demonstratively crossing her arms over her chest and turning away.
Hearing such a bold retort, Claudia felt only dull irritation and a sharp desire to get as far away as possible from this excessively noisy and pushy Yuffie. Not knowing what else to entertain herself with, Yuffie continued aimlessly wandering around the hall, staring around, while the others quickly washed the blood from the wooden floor.
In the end, tired of circling and once again making sure that no one was paying her the slightest attention, Yuffie sat down on a high bar stool with an offended air and propped her puffed-out cheeks on her fists. Sitting at the counter, she lightly swung her legs and loudly hummed some simple cheerful melody, trying somehow to drive away the boredom.
A couple of minutes later the cleanup was finally finished, and those present at last turned their gazes to Yuffie, who, contrary to her unrestrainedly hyperactive character, had managed to sit in place for about two minutes.
"So, let's go over this one more time. Who are you and why exactly have you come to us?" Alex asked with a light smile, leaning on the edge of the cleaned table and leisurely lighting a thin cigar.
"Ahem-ahem… My name is Yuffie! I'm a Materia hunter and a member of the elite special unit of the new government of Wutai! My mission is to infiltrate the very headquarters of Shinra and steal a unique, rarest Materia that they excavated in the ancient ruins! So that our enemy once and for all understands: you don't mess with Wutai!" Yuffie proclaimed, instantly jumping down from the chair.
Yuffie once again launched into her pompous speech, deftly and carelessly juggling bright Materia spheres right in the air and putting on yet another spectacular performance. Watching how skillfully Yuffie spun the colored orbs, Alex again brought the thin cigar to his lips and unhurriedly took a drag, accepting what was happening as a matter of course.
On the faces of Barret and Tifa froze sincere bewilderment: they simply could not digest the fact that a ninja from Wutai had shown up right at their establishment with a secret mission. Biggs and Wedge merely exchanged confused glances between themselves, also absolutely not understanding how to react to this. And only Aerith and Jessie were sincerely enjoying the moment, enthusiastically watching how deftly Yuffie changed the trajectories of the colored spheres, turning everything into a real circus show.
Exhaling a stream of bluish smoke, Alex tried to stop Yuffie, but she, noticing absolutely nothing, continued inspiredly chattering about who she was, where she had come from, and what great goals had brought her to Midgar. Observing the farce unfolding before him, Dean came to the only correct conclusion: thanks to this hyperactive girl, things around would soon become many times noisier.
"Members of Avalanche! With your powerful support… absolute success awaits us!" Yuffie proclaimed deafeningly, finishing her long monologue and thrusting her open palm right in front of herself.
"First of all… could you answer one simple question? How did you even figure out that we are an Avalanche cell?" Alex asked with a sigh, raising his hand and trying to protect the bar from the continuation of her endless performance.
"Pfft! My contact in Midgar was supposed to meet me at the dump in a Moogle hat! And you two — are right now in Moogle hats! Isn't that obvious?!" Yuffie declared with sincere surprise, victoriously staring at the heads of Alex and Aerith.
The moment Yuffie's words sounded, absolutely every gaze in the bar fixed on Alex and Aerith, standing side by side in identical Moogle hats. Alex himself heavily pinched the bridge of his nose when the puzzle finally clicked into place in his head. He understood why this little pipsqueak had first suddenly crashed into him in the crowd and then tailed him while he, Tifa, and Claudia were pulling the idiot Johnny out.
Rubbing his nose, Alex once again mentally cursed his "luck" for the chain of such absurd coincidences. Aerith, on the contrary, was completely delighted by such a coincidence and even cheerfully clapped her hands. She couldn't even have imagined that her spontaneous desire to put on the funny headgear would ultimately lead to such a turn.
It seemed something incredible and even miraculous to her, because she knew perfectly well how everything was supposed to unfold in the original story. Barret in his habitual rough manner was already about to draw a deep breath to bark at Yuffie that she had the wrong address and should get lost in all four directions.
But Tifa stopped him in time: she lightly kicked Barret in the leg and with an expressive glance hinted that he had better keep quiet for now, otherwise his trademark politeness would finally ruin everything. Tifa preferred that Alex conduct the negotiations — even though they had known each other for next to nothing, she without hesitation entrusted this situation to him.
"Well, what a coincidence, of course…" Alex forced out with difficulty, taking his hand from his face and raising his gaze to Yuffie.
"What do you mean 'coincidence'?" Yuffie asked in bewilderment, planting her hands on her hips and leaning slightly forward.
"How can I put this more gently…" Alex drawled awkwardly, trying with all his might to hold back the rising laughter.
"We're not the Avalanche cell you were looking for!" Wedge blurted out with a joyful and broad smile, forestalling everyone.
"Oh crap! And what am I supposed to do now?! I was supposed to meet them, not you! Where am I supposed to look for them now?! I'm going to fail the whole mission like this!" Yuffie howled in shock and began nervously pacing from side to side, clutching her head.
When Yuffie began panicking too loudly, realizing that she had come to completely the wrong address, everyone present immediately measured Wedge with a heavy gaze; he had decided to spill such information at the most inappropriate moment. Alex sighed heavily and accurately threw a candy at Wedge's head. Still broadly smiling, Wedge felt a light impact on his forehead and bashfully stared at Alex, silently asking what that was for.
But his sufferings did not end there: next Biggs joined in, meaningfully driving an elbow into his friend's solar plexus. Already about to loudly complain about the injustice, Wedge immediately received a solid slap on the back of the head from Jessie, who was looking at him with the angriest and most promising-of-retribution gaze. Noticing how the entire bar was looking at him, Wedge instantly realized the depth of his mistake and quickly pulled his head into his shoulders to avoid further beatings.
Sighing once more, Alex approached Yuffie to try to make her shut up before her ringing cries were heard by the entire street. Standing opposite her, Alex caught Yuffie by the shoulders and covered her mouth with his palm. Feeling someone else's fingers at her lips, Yuffie planted her hands on her hips and began loudly wailing through them, actively waving her limbs and trying to push Alex away by pressing her hands right into his face.
Feeling that his patience was coming to an end, Alex put a finger to his lips and in a gentle tone asked her to be quiet until he finished his thought. Thanks to his tender and calm gaze, Yuffie nevertheless quieted down and merely snorted demonstratively, again planting her hands on her hips.
"First of all. The Avalanche cell you were looking for engages in sabotage and petty thefts from Shinra. But the guys at this table engage in maximally radical struggle. Like blowing up Mako Reactors," Alex slowly removed his palm from Yuffie's lips and pointed at Barret's group.
"Really?! You're actually waging such a harsh war against Shinra?!" Yuffie exclaimed in surprise and began joyfully bouncing in place, instantly switching all her hyperactive attention to Barret, Tifa, and the others.
"Heh! We've already got one blown-up Mako Reactor under our belt, and a couple more on the way!" Wedge blurted out with a proud smirk, instantly forgetting that literally five seconds ago he had received a series of blows for his long tongue.
"Wedge, for the love of Gaia, just shut up…" Biggs groaned heavily, covering his face with his hands from the bottomless stupidity of his friend.
"So cool! Can I join you?! I'm super cool, super agile, and I can sneak anywhere, and no one will notice me at all!" Yuffie declared with a wide smile and was already intending to jump onto the table on the fly, but Alex grabbed her by the scruff of the neck in time.
"First of all, let me finish. And second… the Materia you came to Midgar for… it's not in Shinra headquarters at all," Alex continued, pulling the restless Yuffie back before she overturned all the furniture in the bar.
"Then where is it?! I heard with my own ears that it was delivered right to Shinra!" Yuffie asked in bewilderment, hanging helplessly in Alex's hands like a cat and slightly tilting her head to the side.
Looking into Yuffie's brown eyes, which burned with undisguised curiosity just like those of an eager cat, Alex thought for a short while and reached into the inner pocket of his coat. A moment later he took out from there the mysterious red Shiva Materia — most likely the very one for which the kunoichi had dragged herself to Midgar. Seeing the bright red sphere, which she had never encountered before, Yuffie instantly snatched it from Alex's fingers and began meticulously examining it.
Examining the artifact from all sides, Yuffie went so far as to decide to try it on her teeth and even lick it. Quickly realizing exactly what this restless kunoichi was about to do, Alex with a deft motion took the red sphere back. Deprived of the rare and precious trophy, Yuffie began desperately kicking, with tears in her eyes stretching her grabby fingers toward the red sphere and loudly proving that this was now her legitimate treasure.
The others watched the unfolding comedy with smiles: Yuffie was trying with all her might to break free and deafeningly demanding the return of "her precious," while Alex calmly held her back, giving her not a single chance to touch the mysterious artifact. Jessie, for her part, thoughtfully stared at the red Materia and suddenly realized that she had already seen something similar somewhere.
In her memory surfaced the events of recent days, when she together with Biggs and Wedge had hijacked an armored truck with valuable Shinra cargo. There, among mountains of equipment needed by the underground, stood one unremarkable case, inside which rested an exactly identical sphere. Jessie had grabbed it back then out of pure curiosity — simply because she had never encountered anything similar before.
"Come on, please-e-e! It's my treasure, I dragged myself here for it!" Yuffie moaned plaintively, hanging limply on Alex's arm, completely exhausted after the attempts to break free.
"I'm afraid I can't give you this one at all. But as for other types of Materia… I can perfectly well spare you a couple," Alex said with a sigh, hiding the red sphere back into the inner pocket.
"Really?! And what else do you have?! Can you show me?! Do you have the one that causes bada-boom and explosions?! Or maybe the one that helps you fly?! I, for example, desperately want to learn how to fly — that would be simply mega-cool! Then I'd become a real flying kunoichi! Damn, that even sounds epic! Then everyone will call me: Flying Kunoichi Yuffie Kisaragi, Mistress of the Skies!" Yuffie chattered with a wide smile, beginning to swing vigorously while hanging on Alex's arm and shaking her head from side to side.
"And this girl was still proving she's not a weirdo. You're just like Batman — just whistle and he appears. Batman!" Dean sang with a smirk, briefly tearing his gaze away from his affairs.
"I'm not a weirdo, you're the weirdo! And in general, I'm a super-cool kunoichi, you'd better not mess with me!" Yuffie howled, beginning to actively wave her limbs in the air with a sincere desire to reach Dean and soap his neck.
"Yeah, good luck with that hopeless endeavor," Dean answered with a lazy smirk, silently raised a thumb, and returned to opening fresh Queen's Blood boosters.
From Dean's caustic words Yuffie began kicking with even greater force: she actively thrashed her arms and legs in the air, shouting the most terrible threats of retribution. Dean in response completely ignored Yuffie, enthusiastically trying to pull a couple more rare cards from the remaining boosters. After a couple of minutes of continuous shouting Yuffie again ran out of steam and hung limply on Alex's arm, exactly like a tired cat.
And when the noisy guest finally quieted down, a logical question hung in the air: what to do with her next? Should they take her to search for her real contacts, or leave everything as is? Barret decided to act like a true stern leader: he simply rose from his seat and headed for the exit, thunderously announcing that he urgently needed to hug his little angel Marlene.
Following him, Biggs and Wedge preferred to quickly evaporate, muttering something about urgent patrol of the Slums. Jessie followed them just as swiftly, citing a pile of unfinished business. However, before jumping out of the bar, Jessie managed to blow Alex a coquettish air kiss and immediately fled. Observing how the support group rapidly dissolved into the twilight of the Slums, Alex looked at Tifa, secretly counting on the fact that she would definitely not refuse help.
But in response Tifa merely smiled tenderly and explained that she needed to carry out several errands for the local residents. And what made the situation completely comical was that Claudia silently rose from her seat, picked up the massive Buster Sword, and restrainedly declared that she would go with Tifa. Grabbing Claudia by the hand, Tifa quickly led her out of the bar and slammed the door behind her.
Left in the emptied establishment, Alex cast a weary gaze over Aerith, who was observing this comedy with a meek smile. Alex didn't even try to ask Dean for help — he already knew that the latter would merely wave him off lazily with another careless excuse. Sighing heavily, Alex shifted his gaze to Yuffie, whom he continued to hold by the scruff of the neck like a tired kitten.
"And what am I supposed to do with you? Take you to look for your real contacts?" Alex asked in a weary tone, carefully setting Yuffie on her feet.
"Why? The Materia I need is right here. That means I'll stay with you until I can steal it!" Yuffie drawled with a sly smirk, immediately stretching her grabby fingers right toward the inner pocket of Alex's coat.
"That's not happening… Fine, to hell with it, stay. Your skills will come in handy for us anyway when we once again go to storm a Shinra plant," Alex said with a sigh, gently pushing Yuffie's sticky fingers farther away from his pocket.
"Cool! Now I'm an official part of the team! And what's the name of your gang?! You've got a super-duper-cool name for sure! You dealt with that plant so effectually! I saw it on TV: there was a perfectly whole plant standing, and then it went like — whoo-oo-oo, then swoo-oo-sh, and then BOOM! And that was it, nothing left of the plant!" Yuffie chattered, waving her arms with burning eyes and depicting the special effects from the news broadcast.
Hearing Alex's words about accepting Yuffie into the team, Dean immediately raised his head and mentally asked him why they needed to drag this walking noise-carrier along with them at all. Catching Dean's mental question, Alex sighed slightly and quickly shared with him the picture of what a pitiful fate awaited Yuffie in Sector 0 if they left her completely alone, and what lousy consequences that would ultimately lead to.
Having listened to the explanation, Dean merely nodded understandingly, deciding to fully trust Alex's decision. He already couldn't stand all this crap connected with predestined fate, and if there existed a real chance to rewrite someone else's predetermined lot, he was ready to do it without extra questions. Aerith did not hear their mental conversation, but knowing the future, she also perfectly understood exactly what threatened Yuffie, and therefore was entirely and completely in agreement with the kunoichi becoming part of their squad.
And while Yuffie was sincerely rejoicing that she had been officially taken into the team, her stomach unexpectedly produced such a deafening rumble that it was hard to confuse with anything else. Hearing that rolling sound, Alex, Aerith, and Dean simultaneously looked at Yuffie, whose face immediately flooded with a thick blush. Before the embarrassed girl managed to squeeze out a ridiculous excuse that it was just a draft and she was actually full, Alex decided to feed her.
Walking around the bar counter, he began taking fresh ingredients out of the refrigerator. It is worth noting: the moment Alex dropped that he was going to cook, Dean instantly relocated right to the counter, not forgetting to grab the unopened boosters with him. Aerith also flared with the desire to try Alex's cooking and sat down nearby, leaning on the wooden surface and sweetly propping her cheeks on her hands.
Getting started on the cooking, Alex beckoned Yuffie with his hand, offering her to sit down while he conjured over the stove. Seeing not a single reason to refuse free food, Yuffie immediately jumped onto a high stool and began nonstop bombarding Alex with questions about exactly what he was going to cook and how deliciously he cooked in general.
Hearing the endless stream of questions from Yuffie, Alex calmly answered each of them, not distracting himself from the cooking process for a moment. After all, he had colossal experience communicating with his own wives, some of whom possessed exactly the same hyperactive character and sincere love for chatter. Having received answers to everything that interested her, Yuffie immediately switched to Aerith.
Thanks to her amazingly kind and tender nature, Aerith in that same instant found common ground with Yuffie, and already after some ten minutes they were chattering like longtime friends. Continuing to virtuously wield the knife and frying pan, Alex was not even surprised at how quickly Aerith was able to win people over.
And the moment Alex finished preparing the first portion, Barret appeared in the doorway of the bar with a wide smile on his face, carefully holding a joyfully beaming Marlene in his arms. Sensing the dizzying aroma, Barret demanded a plate right off the bat for his little hungry angel. In response to that declaration Alex merely waved his hand with a chuckle, inviting them to the counter.
A couple of minutes later Biggs and Wedge returned, still continuing on the move to put on a performance about how diligently they had been patrolling the Slum blocks. Sensing the enticing smells, they instantly occupied the free seats at the table next to Barret. The last to appear in the bar were Tifa, Claudia, and Jessie: right from the threshold they assessed the results of Alex's culinary art and the beastly appetite with which everyone around was devouring the food.
"So you can cook too?! And it smells simply mind-blowing! He-he, you're a real dream husband! A portion for me too, please!" Jessie blurted out with an eager smile, bouncing over to the bar counter and nearly vaulting over it.
"Here… Tifa, Claudia, everything's ready for you too. And I'm warning you right away: I'm not your personal cook, I've still got a pile of things to do. Soon I need to head to the Black Market for materials," Alex said with a sigh, setting three plates with the still-hot dish on the counter.
"Materials? You mean that list you gave me?" Jessie clarified with lively interest and immediately squinted with pleasure, sending the first spoonful into her mouth.
"You guessed it. The reactor won't build itself. If I get everything necessary, by morning I'll already be able to fully assemble it," Alex answered with a light smile, carefully wiping Aerith's dirty cheek with a napkin.
"Hmm… I've got one excellent idea on that score, handsome. But first — this divine food, and everything else later!" Jessie said with a cheerful smirk, bringing another portion to her lips.
"Regarding 'divine' I'm entirely and completely in agreement! This is truly a masterpiece! The most delicious dish I've ever eaten in my entire life!" Wedge proclaimed with exaggerated delight, solemnly raising the plate above his head like a newly found treasure.
"Too much pathos, Wedge. And chew quietly, or someone will quickly privatize your portion," Biggs cut off with a chuckle, amicably clapping his comrade on the well-fed belly.
Hearing Biggs's warning, Wedge sincerely did not understand why on earth anyone would steal food from him when absolutely everyone around was enjoying their portions with pleasure. But before he managed to voice these thoughts aloud, the still-hungry Yuffie materialized behind his back. Not losing a second, Yuffie with a deft motion snatched the plate right out of Wedge's hands and immediately fled, devouring the remnants right on the run.
Feeling how his palms had emptied, Wedge shifted a stunned gaze to the fleeing Yuffie and rushed after her in pursuit, overturning the chair he had just been sitting on with a crash. Trying to catch the nimble girl and return his portion, Wedge completely forgot that because of his impressive weight his endurance left much to be desired. And catching someone as slippery as Yuffie was an altogether impossible task for him.
Having made literally a couple of circles around the bar, Wedge got winded and began gasping wildly. Heavily panting, Wedge leaned on the edge of the table, still weakly trying to demand his food back. Yuffie, standing two steps away from him, sent the very last piece into her mouth and with a careful knock set the absolutely clean dishes next to him.
Seeing that not a single crumb remained on them, Wedge with a stifled howl fell to his knees and pressed himself to the floor, beginning in despair to pound his fists on the table leg as if he had lost his only beloved. Everyone present immediately burst into deafening laughter at the tragic finish of this chase. No one even thought of helping the poor guy — it was his own fault for getting distracted by chatter!
"Idiot," Claudia dropped with a light smirk, following Wedge with her gaze and bringing another portion of food to her mouth.
"Oh, how rude you are, dear. Not a drop of mercy in your heart," Alex reacted with a chuckle, lazily sipping hot tea and leaning his back against the bar counter.
"Stop inventing these stupid nicknames for me!" Claudia waved him off with slight irritation, expressively threatening with a spoon right in front of Alex's face.
"But you can easily call me that! And I'll call you 'honey' in return. Oh-oh-oh, I can already see the picture: you come home tired from work, and I meet you at the door and say: 'Honey, do you want to take a shower first? Or maybe have dinner? Or… me?'" Jessie chattered with an eager smile, sweetly propping her cheeks on her hands and shooting Alex the most coquettish glance.
"Ugh… I think I'll move seats. Or I'm going to be turned inside out right now," Dean muttered, shuddering, sharply snatched a plate of food, and with broad strides headed to the farthest edge of the bar.
"Hey! What's with the 'Ugh'?! This is actually the dream of any normal man returning home! Right, honey?" Jessie cried with feigned indignation, launching a crumpled napkin at Dean's back, and immediately shifted her playful gaze back to Alex.
"Possibly. Although personally I usually prefer to climb into the shower first — simply to wash someone else's blood off myself," Alex answered with a slight shrug and took an unhurried sip of hot tea.
"So… you want to hear those words after the shower?" Aerith inquired, slyly squinting her green eyes and looking at Alex.
"Guess," Alex answered with a smirk and, not letting her finish, poured a little more freshly brewed tea into Aerith's mug.
At those words Aerith wrinkled her nose amusingly and demonstratively took another sip of tea. Alex merely shook his head, looking at this feigned annoyance. He understood perfectly well: the moment even one of the chosen ones in the surroundings began joking in such a key, his own wives would immediately pick up that wave. And then everything would turn into a personal nightmare that he would want to avoid at any cost.
Jessie, on the contrary, sincerely laughed, incredibly pleased that she had managed to elicit such a lively reaction from Alex. Tifa smiled tenderly, looking at how noisy and cozy the bar had become the moment their little "family" had gained more people. She was heartily glad that now everyone gathered together at the table, laughed loudly, and joked about each other without malice — because it was precisely such a calm life that she had always dreamed of.
But what warmed Tifa most of all was the thought that, despite all her former detachment and coldness, Claudia was also gradually blending into the collective. She sincerely hoped that thanks to this her old friend would be able to regain her former character and finally return to a normal life. Quickly gathering the empty plates from the tables, Tifa went behind the bar counter and began washing the dishes. Deciding to help her, Alex set the emptied mug on the polished surface, stood next to her, and took a towel, beginning to thoroughly wipe the wet utensils.
"Thank you…" Tifa said with a warm smile, turning her head to him and handing over yet another wet plate.
"You know, when you say thank you to someone, you need to clarify what exactly you're thanking them for," Alex answered with a smirk, carefully taking the dishes from her hands.
"For everything. You helped Barret with his arm… Helped us deal with the problems around Shinra… And even help Claudia cope with her condition. You've been with us for next to nothing, and you've already done so much for us," Tifa said with a light sigh of relief, still barely believing how many events these two days had contained.
"Ah, that… Well, it wasn't hard at all. Usually my work is far uglier and more complicated than helping a small group of eco-terrorists. Besides, I've already received legitimate payment for helping you," Alex answered with a slight shrug and lazily waved a finger in the air.
"The fact that I mixed a couple of signature cocktails for you is hard to call full payment for everything you've done," Tifa said, laughing quietly, and playfully bumped Alex with her shoulder.
"Well then you can add a couple of strong hugs on top," Alex proposed with a chuckle, lightly bumping Tifa back.
"I'll think about your proposal… And for now stop chatting and help with the dishwashing, Mister Co-Owner!" Tifa cut off with a laugh and deftly poked a soapy finger right into Alex's nose.
Chuckling at Tifa's words, Alex wiped the soap bubble from his nose and continued helping her with the dishes. He understood perfectly well: ahead awaited a whole avalanche of events into which he would inevitably have to intervene in order to steer the story in the right direction. Aerith, sitting at the bar counter and lightly swinging her legs, was reflecting on the same thing.
She was observing how Alex and Tifa washed the plates in coordination, and not for the first time caught herself thinking how rapidly the universe around them was changing from the mere presence of Alex and Dean. And what pleased her most of all was that these changes invariably led to the better. In Aerith's soul the confidence was growing ever stronger: the tragic ending could indeed be avoided. Experiencing a sincere surge of joy from this thought, Aerith smiled.
Now that the annoying Grey Whisperers had finally stopped dictating her every step and interfering in her fate, the entire space was opening before her. What should she do? Where should she go? And the most obvious, almost instantaneous answer for her became the desire to go on yet another date with Alex. Only this time — definitely without Dean grumbling at every step!
Thinking about the upcoming date, Aerith sweetly squinted her green eyes, unblinkingly looking at Alex's broad back. Feeling someone's intent gaze on him, Alex turned around and met eyes with Aerith, who immediately wrinkled her little nose amusingly and stuck her tongue out at him. Blinking slightly in surprise at the sight of such a spontaneous gesture, Alex, who in his soul remained the same mischievous child, without thinking stuck his tongue out at her in response. Staring at each other, they both could not hold back and quietly laughed at this cute childish game.
To be continued...
(So the characters continue to communicate and grow closer to each other, simultaneously advancing the plot. Yeah. Even on our list, we have the appearance of another Pokémon and the storming of another factory. And the possible appearance of an overly talkative racer. And many other events that await us ahead. That's all right. Perhaps I forgot to say something, and maybe I'll remember later and say it tomorrow. In the meantime, I'm going to go get something to eat. Peace, love, and somewhere there is something you only get to see once in a lifetime.)
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