Final Fantasy VII: Lifestream - Book 3: Pursuit

TWENTY-TWO

Yuffie's eyes widened. "Then that might mean..."

"Hiroshi disguised himself as a soldier," Jessie finished for her. "It's not a whole lot to go on, Yuffie, but it's a start."

"Thanks, Jessie," she breathed.

"So then, what's Rufus an' Mr. Warmonger plannin' to do in Costa Del Sol?" Barret wondered. "Not a vacation, I take it."

I shook my head. "Doubtful. Their objective's probably somewhere else. Costa Del Sol's just their starting point. Rufus did say he intended to pay a visit to the Highwind's original captain."

"But we don't know where that is," Jessie pointed out. "At least, not yet. Maybe we should see what we can find out while we're in town, do a little snooping and see if we can't find us a good lead, either on Rufus or Sephiroth. Then we can go from there."

"Good idea," I agreed.

Aerith giggled. "And maybe take a little break while we're at it! We could really use it, you know. And Costa Del Sol's supposed to be a big resort town. Bright sun, cool surf, nice beaches..."

Tifa smiled. "That might not be a bad idea, Aerith."

"For sure!" Jessie added, then smirked at me. "Always wanted to go there, you know. Marissa told me about it years ago. Sounds fun... and romantic! We have to stay the night, merc. Just one! Because you and I are gonna take long walk alone together on the beach."

"A walk?" I blinked. "Okay, I guess..."

She clapped her hands together. "Thanks! I can't wait!"

Aerith laughed. "Aw, how sweet! Have fun, you two! I think we can all relax and gather the information we need at the same time. I haven't ever gone swimming, though. No place to really do that in the slums. It might be nice to try and learn how, though."

"I can help you with that," Tifa offered. "I swam a lot when I was a kid. We had a few decent-sized ponds near our village, and my parents used to take me there to swim when I was little."

"Looking forward to it!" she said.

Tifa looked at me. "What about you, Cloud?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "Mom used take me, too. I don't remember ever seeing you out there, though, Tifa. But maybe we just never went at the same time. It's possible. But anyway, yeah, I can swim."

Jessie grinned. "Oh, you can teach me, then, merc! I never learned, either. Like Aerith said, not many pools in the slums. And I was pretty busy with other things when I was still on the plate, as you know. Still, I'd just love to have you as my hunky swim teacher."

I couldn't quite avoid blushing a little. "I... alright. But there's a lot more to it than you can learn in just one day."

"Oh, I'm willing to put in the time if you are," she winked.

"We're on a quest here, you know," I reminded her.

Jessie pointed her finger and winked. "Of course, Cloud, but there's always afterward! This is gonna be great!"

"You guys..." Aerith giggled.

Red yawned. "Well, if that's settled, may we rest? I've been trying to pass myself off as one of you two-legs all day, and it can get quite tiring after a while. I don't know how you all do it."

"We manage," Barret chuckled.

Then we took whatever we needed from the crates to get settled in for the night. While Barret got himself set up with a hammock over in the corner and Red curled up nearby, Aerith and Tifa picked out some sleeping bags and laid down as Yuffie did the same. Jessie took a pair of pillows and a blanket, thrust them into my arms, and motioned for me to follow her, smirking as she did. What was she up to now? Something about knowing the perfect place for us to sleep, wherever that was. But I didn't have any idea what it could be.