Final Fantasy VII: Lifestream - Book 3: Pursuit

TWENTY-SEVEN

When Jessie joined me and Aerith in the Costa del Sol Inn's lobby, I had to blink to make sure I wasn't seeing things. She was alone, and at first I thought Cloud would be right behind her, that she'd simply gone ahead while he'd met up with Barret or Red or something upstairs. But that wasn't it. Although she tried to be cheerful and upbeat like always, I didn't miss the way her eyes were a little red and puffy, as if she'd been crying. Aerith saw it, too, and we both went to her.

"Jessie?" I asked. "What's wrong?"

At first, she smirked and tried to brush it off. "Hmm? Oh, I'm fine, Tifa. The others haven't come down yet?"

Aerith raised an eyebrow. "No. And you're not fine."

"Really, I—" she began.

"Don't bother trying to fool us, Jessie, we've known you too long," I told her. "Now come sit down and tell us what's going on. We can both see you're upset about something. What is it?"

Jessie chuckled, but there wasn't much humor in it. "Guess I'm not quite as good an actress as I used to be..."

"It's only because we know you so well," Aerith assured her, leading her to the small sofa where we'd been sitting. "I wouldn't say you've lost your touch. But maybe you wanted us to see it."

"Maybe I did," she admitted.

I nodded as I sat down with her and Aerith. "Well, we're both here. Tell us what's wrong. Is it about Cloud?"

Jessie sighed. "Yeah. He and I... are on hold."

"Why?" Aerith asked. "Because of what Hojo said yesterday?"

"That and a lot of personal stuff that I've put off dealing with for a long time," she replied. "I've been up since before dawn thinking about it. And if I don't take care of it now, it could really hurt us."

I thought I understood. "How can we help?"

"I don't know, Tifa," Jessie said. "Just be there, I guess. I've gotta do this on my own, though. And that's why I decided to slow things down with Cloud for a while. He's wonderful and sweet and hot, but... I can't keep using him to hide from my problems. If he and I are gonna have a future together, I gotta take some time to sort this stuff out now so that it doesn't hit us over the head later, you know?"

I did. "Yeah. How's he taking it?"

She laughed and wiped her eyes a little more. "Pretty well, actually. Same old Cloud, cool and calm as ever. I don't know if he understands, though, but I'm sure he'll be fine. So, do you two mind if I throw down my sleeping bag with ya while we're out on the road?"

"Not at all," Aerith smiled.

"You're always welcome," I agreed.

Jessie took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "Thanks, guys. So... what's the plan? How are we gonna get to Corel?"

"You know that map of the region that we picked up while we were out shopping yesterday?" I said. "I was looking it over after dinner last night and had an idea. There's a pass that goes through the mountains, swings by the Corel reactor, and leads right into the town. It's not used much because of the monsters that live up there, but it's broad and easy to follow and Shinra doesn't really use it."

"Back door, huh?" she smirked. "Good idea."

I went on. "Right. Better than risking the highway by going around the mountains. Shinra's still watching for us. There's a small town at the base of Mt. Corel about a day's drive from here, right at the entrance to the pass. I called Johnny this morning, and he's agreed to take us there in his truck once we're ready. Then we can hike through the mountains for another three days all the way to North Corel."