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."
"Sounds like a plan!" Aerith grinned.
"Yeah..." Jessie sighed.
I laid a hand on her shoulder. "What is it?"
She looked sadly at me, her eyes still not quite dry. "Well, it's just... how do you tell someone that everything they've suffered and lost is all your fault? How would you even begin?"
"What are you talking about?" I asked, confused.
"Corel..." Aerith murmured.
I blinked. "But why? You've never been there, Jessie."
"You're right, I haven't, but... I still left my mark on the place," she said. "Not that I ever meant to. But it still happened."
"Can you tell us about it?" I asked.
Jessie swallowed. "I—"
Before she could go any further, though, we all looked up when we heard the others approaching. Barret was scowling darkly at Cloud just like he used to before the Reactor 1 mission in Midgar, and I guessed it had to do with Jessie. They'd probably argued about her upstairs before coming down here. And I thought I knew why. Yuffie followed behind, confused about what was going on but for once wisely keeping quiet as Red padded along next to her. About halfway to where we were, Barret whirled on Cloud and clenched his fist.
"You said you wouldn't make her cry, merc!" he growled.
Cloud frowned. "I told you what happened when you asked where she was. It was her choice, Barret. So back off."
Barret took a step closer to him. "Say that again!"
"Leave him out of it!" Jessie snapped, shooting to her feet. "It's not his fault! This is just something I have to do."
"Hmph!" he muttered. "Knew he'd pull this shit!"
Jessie glared at him. "What did I just—!?"
But before she could finish, Barret stomped outside. Jessie watched him go, then stormed out after him. "Asshole..."
"Uh, guys... what just happened?" Yuffie gaped, her eyes wide.
Red glanced at her. "I really don't know."
Aerith and I just stood there for a minute, both of us as stunned by what we'd just seen as they were, then I glanced at her and Cloud. "Is it me, or are those two really out of sorts today?"
"No, they are," Aerith blinked. "Something's definitely wrong."
"They've both been acting odd ever since we found out Corel's our next stop," Cloud added. "Can't be a coincidence."
I shook my head. "It's not. Something happened there, Cloud. And Jessie feels responsible. She was just telling us. I don't know how Barret fits into it, though. But I think we need to find out."
He nodded. "We will."
With that, he left, and the rest of us followed him. Breakfast at one of the nearby restaurants was quiet and quick as we all sat together, and I could almost feel the tension in the air. Jessie and Barret hardly said a word and wouldn't even look at each other.
Once we were finished, we bought some supplies for the trip from the shops and stalls lining the main street. That materia vendor, Butch, complained about being short a few orbs and shot Yuffie a pretty dark look, but a stone cold glare from Cloud shut him down fast. I can't say I really minded Yuffie helping herself, though, what with how I'd heard the guy had been leering at her all day yesterday.
She showed us her little haul once we'd moved on—Bind, Cleanse, Revive, and Prayer. Three green orbs and one yellow. As Jessie had told Lena back in Fort Condor, Bind could keep enemies from using magic, but that wasn't all. It had another spell in it as well, one that would put enemies to sleep for a while. Cleanse materia, on the other hand, could heal any ailments like those that our enemies might hit us with. Revive acted like phoenix down and could wake us up again if we got knocked out, and Prayer could provide some group healing.
Yuffie kept Bind but gave the others to Aerith. "Here ya go!"
"Thanks, Yuffie!" she smiled.
Yuffie grinned. "Sure thing, Aerith! Oughta help ya keep the rest of us on our feet a bit better. Not that you don't already do a great job of it of course, but ya know. Always good to be prepared."
Aerith nodded. "Exactly!"
From there, we picked up a bundle of softeners from the item shop in case we ran into any cockatrices up in the mountains. From what I'd heard while shopping with Aerith and Jessie yesterday, they could turn people to stone, and softeners could prevent that. Jessie had confirmed it, although she'd been elusive about how she'd known and had quickly changed the subject. Aerith and I hadn't pressed her about it, but now I wondered if it had anything to do with Corel.
After picking up food, tents, sleeping bags, and other camping gear as well and getting it all organized in our packs, we met Johnny over by the wide stone arch on the western edge of town. Above it at the north end was a sprawling villa that I'd heard had been President Shinra's but was now on the market since his death. Pretty expensive, and I had the fleeting thought that it might be fun to try and snag it sometime. If we ever managed to get that kind of money, that was. But even with Jessie's tournament winnings, we didn't have near enough.
The drive to the mountains was a long and mostly quiet one. Even Yuffie was oddly subdued. Jessie and I rode up front with Johnny while the others sat in the back—she'd gotten right in without a word or even a look at Barret. I'd exchanged a worried glance with Aerith, concerned and wondering how long this was going to go on, but neither of us had said anything. Cloud had just sighed and climbed into the back, but he had looked over his shoulder at Jessie for a moment, his baby blue eyes troubled. I knew he was worried about her, too.
It was almost dark by the time we reached the small town sitting at the base of Mt. Corel, so we spend the night at the inn, Aerith doing as much as she could to keep everyone's spirits up. Most of us reacted well enough to her jokes and encouragement, but Barret stubbornly kept to himself. Jessie had relaxed a little, at least with us, but she still wouldn't talk to Barret. She was still angry with him over how he'd treated Cloud that morning, but I thought I saw sadness in her eyes, too. So I decided to ask her about it before turning in for the night.
She yawned and stretched as she joined Aerith, Yuffie, and I in our room. "Well, girls, it's been a long day. We start through the mountains tomorrow, so I'm gonna crash and get some shut-eye."
"Jessie..." I sighed, sitting on one of the two double beds. "I wanted to know, how long do you plan on giving Barret the silent treatment? It wasn't right, what he did, but... this isn't like you."
"I don't wanna be mad at him, especially not now..." she answered as she pulled back the sheets and blanket on the other bed. "But he was outta line. Cloud didn't do anything wrong."
Aerith sat next to her. "He's just on edge, Jessie. I don't think you're the only one who's bothered that we're going to Corel."
Jessie nodded. "I guess so. And... I think I know why..."
"What do you mean?" Yuffie asked.
"It's not for me to say," she said. "He'll tell us if and when he's ready. But I think you'll understand before long. When we... when we finally get there. When we see... oh, damn..."
Aerith gently took her hand as she wiped a tear away. "Whatever it is and whatever happens, we're here for you. Both of you. This must be part of what you were talking about earlier. One of the things you need to deal with. And why you're not with Cloud."
"It is, yeah," Jessie admitted. "It's hardly even been a whole day yet, but it's still really hard. I just wanna be in his arms."
"That's why you sat up front in the truck," I realized.
She nodded as she pulled off her boots. "Aside from being pissed at Barret. I... I didn't wanna tempt myself. As much as I wanna stay with Cloud, I can't right now. I need to focus. But it's been barely two weeks since we were reunited after being apart for a month. And now this. He still has the best timing, but mine kinda sucks."
Aerith laid a hand gently on her shoulder. "I wouldn't worry about it too much, Jessie. Everything'll work out. It's not like you're gonna go rushing off on your own somewhere by yourself and leave him and the rest of us behind. If you ever did that, I'd have to go after you and bring you back safe and sound. I know you'd do the same for me if I ever had the nerve to try and pull a crazy stunt like that."
"O-Of course I would," Jessie laughed as Aerith did the same. But it sounded a bit shaky, as if the joke had troubled her somehow. "I... you know that, Aerith. I'd never let you go off alone."
"I know," she said softly.
Jessie swallowed heavily. "Aerith, I... there's something..."
"What is it?" Aerith asked.
"Nevermind," Jessie sighed after a moment's hesitation. "We should get some sleep. We've got a long hike ahead of us."
Aerith gazed at her. "You sure?"
"Yeah," Jessie nodded.
So we did, and early the next morning, we set out into the pass and got underway after a short, quiet breakfast. The slope was rocky, steep, and uneven, and my legs ached from the climb. But we kept going until the sun had climbed higher into the sky. We were just about to stop for a bit to rest and have lunch when we saw someone just a short distance ahead of us leaning against a boulder. It was an older man, with gray in his dark hair, and he straightened as we approached.
"Well, hello there," he said. "Nice to meet fellow travelers."
Aerith smiled. "Same here. I didn't think there was anyone else out here. Are you on your way to Corel, too?"
"No, I just like to climb," he said. "But that other fellow..."
"Someone else came through here?" I asked.
The man nodded. "Almost a day ago—I come up here all the time, you see. It was a man in a black cloak. Sent shivers down my spine just to look at him. I tried to tell him how dangerous it is in the mountains, but he ignored me. Acted like I wasn't even there."
"Sephiroth..." Cloud murmured.
"Gotta be," Jessie agreed. "Him and Jenova."
The man shivered. "Well, I don't know about all that, but be safe if you're going further. Even the mushrooms can be deadly if you get too close to them. And watch the cockatrices. One good peck and you'll be a statue if you're not careful. You brought softeners?"
"Plenty," I assured him.
"Good," he replied, relaxing again. "You'll need them. Oh, I almost forgot about the bombs. They tend to blow themselves up after they've taken a few hits, so be sure to watch yourselves."
Aerith chuckled. "We will. Thank you for your advice."
"Anytime, miss," the man said.
From there, we moved on, stopping a short distance further up the slope for lunch before continuing. The peaks rose up around us, brown and wooded, and the trail was rocky and uneven as it went deeper into the mountains. By the end of the day we were close to the summit, and we made camp in a small cave near a bend in the pass. Jessie was oddly quiet, not even trying to mask her feelings with her typical cheery grin like she usually would, and kept to herself, gazing off into the night sky. Her eyes were to the west. Toward Corel.
Barret was also reclusive, and while he had his moments where he was surly with most of us, he seemed to be calming down a bit. He still glared at Cloud a lot, but he left Jessie alone. Like her, he seemed more than a little uneasy about where we were going, and his behavior was a reflection of that. I just hoped that he and Jessie would be able to work out whatever it was that was bothering them.
By noon the next day, we could see the immense, towering bulk of another mako reactor in a narrow, enclosed valley just ahead of us. The trail descended right to it, though we were still high in the mountains, and the land had grown dryer and more barren as we'd traveled further west. The reactor didn't seem to be in use, though, and we soon found out why. We were heading through the valley and toward another path opposite the reactor entrance when a cockatrice fluttered into our path along with a flock of half a dozen needle kisses.
The cockatrice was a large, birdlike creature with lavender feathers and a bright red plume. As for the needle kisses, it wasn't hard for us to see how they'd gotten their name. Their narrow beaks had to be over a foot long and were as sharp as blades, and their feathers were a muddy brown darkening to deep blue at the tips of their wings. They swooped right in at us with a loud cry that split the air.
With a flick of my wrist, I unsheathed my mythril claws and got to work, launching myself at the nearest needle kiss and shredding it with a rapid flurry of stabbing punches while Cloud deftly spun and slashed at two more of the huge birds with both of his swords, Buster in his left and Force Stealer in his right. And despite her personal struggles, Jessie was right there at his side, her blaze talons cutting fiercely through the monsters one after another. Red ripped into them while Aerith, Barret, and Yuffie backed us up with their weapons and spells.
But more of the huge brown birds suddenly flew in along with two more cockatrices. I noticed while I fought that the needle kisses stayed in the air, and because of that, Aerith's earth magic couldn't hurt them. Her lightning spells didn't seem to affect them, either, as we found out when she tried to use one and the birds barely even flinched. So while I took out more of them with a quick shower of blows, she concentrated instead on using her new Prayer materia to keep us healthy and on our feet and left the enemies to the rest of us.
The monsters didn't make it easy, though. They were tougher than most of the others we'd fought so far. One of the cockatrices charged at Aerith with a loud squawk and flared its wings, forcing her to break off the spell she'd been casting and stagger backwards.
"Oh, no you don't!" I shouted at the bird.
With a yell, I dove at it, knocking it aside and pounding it before it could hurt Aerith. As we rolled away, I kept driving punches into it and stabbing it with my mythril claws, but just before I sent it skyward with a rising uppercut, the cockatrice managed to peck me on the arm. The thing's razor sharp beak stabbed just above my wrist, but I ignored the pain and finished the blow, breaking its neck.
I was just scanning the area to find another target when I suddenly realized how heavy my arm was. I gasped at the sight of it, and my eyes widened. The skin was hardening and quickly turning a dark slate gray, and I couldn't feel my hand at all. I supposed I had barely a minute left before I turned to stone completely. My heart pounding, I reached into my pocket, but before I could grab a softener, more needle kisses came after me, firing lines of electricity from their beaks.
"Cloud!" I yelled.
He whirled around, cutting through another cockatrice, but at that moment, before he could get to me, three other needle kisses suddenly hit Jessie with strong lightning spells of their own all at the same time, forks of lightning blasting her off her feet. She'd been darting back and forth, the speed boost from her suit keeping her ahead of her enemies, but magic was hard to dodge, and all three spells had targeted her. She flew to the ground with a startled shriek and lay still.
"Shit!" Cloud swore. "Jessie! Tifa! Hang on!"
I braced myself, feeling my legs and chest starting to harden as the petrification continued, and I knew I couldn't hope to avoid the beams of electricity. But then, just before they would've struck, Red leaped out in front of me and took the hit while Cloud cut the needle kisses apart with a roar and huge sweeps of his two swords, each of them trailing a line of energy and tracing amber runes in the air.
At the same time, Yuffie threw her shuriken into still another flock of the birdlike monsters that had just flown in, and as it sliced through them and Barret filled the needle kisses with steady streams of gunfire, she quickly pulled out a softener and emptied the magical powder over me. Amidst the glittering sparkles, I felt my body lighten and return to normal. Flexing my fingers, I smiled at her.
"Thanks, Yuffie," I said.
She caught her shuriken and winked. "Anytime!"
Then I saw Cloud hacking furiously away at the last cockatrice just as it was trying to peck Jessie to turn her to stone. Several needle kisses were hovering above her as well, their beaks ready to fire and finish her off as she lay unconscious on the ground. But I wasn't about to let that happen. So while Cloud sliced the last cockatrice in two and froze two of the needle kisses with an ice spell, I concentrated on my Enemy Skill materia and finished off the rest with matra magic.
"Tifa, cover me!" Aerith called, deftly spinning her staff. "Raise can heal Jessie, but it takes a minute or two to cast!"
"On it!" I nodded.
Red jumped and tore a needle kiss out of the sky. "We'll keep these fiends off you, Aerith. Just tend to her!"
Yuffie sliced another with her shuriken. "We got this!"
While Cloud and Barret circled protectively around Jessie, keeping the monstrous birds away from her with their ferocious attacks, Aerith bowed her head and concentrated on casting her magic as Red, Yuffie, and I shielded her. We took down as many of the creatures as we could as fast as we could, and as I fought, I used the icy aura from my Enemy Skill materia to quickly surround myself with a chilly haze that slowed down and damaged any needle kisses that got close to me. But as many as we killed, there seemed to be no end to them.
Then Aerith finished casting the Raise spell, and with a flash of red light and translucent, feathery white wings, the magic swept over Jessie and dove into her, healing some of her injuries. It was more than what a phoenix down was capable of, which was why we hadn't used one. As good as they were in a pinch, they didn't do much more than wake you up. Raise magic, though, was stronger, and could heal a bit. We hadn't wanted to take the chance that Jessie might get knocked out again and hurt worse before she could get back on her feet.
"Oh, shit..." she groaned as she sat up. "Not in top form today, am I? Guess I've been a little distracted lately."
"Can you fight?" Cloud asked, slashing a needle kiss.
She grabbed her talons and sprang to her feet. "Always, merc. And I'm ready to give these assholes a little payback!"
I backhanded another bird. "Do it!"
"Uh-oh!" Yuffie gulped. "More incoming!"
"Oh, hell no..." Jessie swore, her eyes on the sky as two dozen more needle kisses flew in. "Time to burn, you flying freaks!"
Then she concentrated, holding one of her blaze talons in front of her, and with a sudden, brilliant flash of crimson light, a globe of white energy appeared in the air right in the midst of the huge flock. From it emerged the huge, muscled form of Ifrit. Brown, leathery skin, burning red eyes, long, curved black horns and claws, bright orange tufts of fur on his head, arms, and waist. He let out a deafening roar that scattered the needle kisses in all directions. And then he struck.
It was a blazing charge that burned through the whole flock as the rest of us took down any that somehow managed to escape. Jessie was a fiery whirlwind, spinning and slicing and hurling arcs of orange energy at the needle kisses again and again while Cloud slashed them apart in a frenzy, his blue eyes burning. At the same time, amidst Ifrit's bursts of fire, I hammered on the enemies with a string of powerful punches and kicks and unleashed a pair of chi traps to cause even more havoc. And between that, Red's scorching stardust ray, Barret's Vulcan cannon, and Yuffie's fire ninjitsu, the birds had nowhere to run.
Ifrit finished the job, completely incinerating the birds with a huge fireball that seared them to the bone in a thunderous explosion. With a roar, he vanished, leaving the smoldering remnants of the needle kisses behind, burnt feathers scattered all over the ground as Aerith's healing wind and Prayer materia soothed our injuries.
Red and I both did what we could to help as well with our Restore materia—all of us had mixed up our loadout a bit before leaving Costa del Sol yesterday. Now that she had the Ifrit materia, Jessie had let him use her Restore orb for a while since she didn't have enough slots left to use it herself. And I still had mine. Between us and Aerith, we soon got everyone taken care of. It had been a hard battle, but we were all still in one piece. And a little stronger for it as well.
"Everybody okay?" Aerith asked.
Jessie nodded. "I'll be feeling it later, but yeah. Those bastards were quick. I'd forgotten they could use magic."
Cloud glanced at her. "You know about these monsters?"
"A little," she admitted. "Back when I was at Shinra, Scarlet and I... we would sent soldiers out to do weapons testing in different places all over the world, or at least where Shinra had influence. The targets were the local monsters, so I'd usually do a bit of research to know what our troops would be up against and prepare them."
"A sound strategy," Red said. "I imagine there is only so much that testing in Shinra's labs and firing ranges can tell you."
Jessie nodded. "Exactly."
Yuffie blinked. "I don't get it. What's the difference?"
"Live targets... give better data," Jessie sighed.
"You okay?" I asked.
She managed a weak smile. "Yeah. Just... bad memories, that's all. I don't like to think about it, Tifa. Still hurts, you know?"
"I do," I assured her.
Then I glanced over at Barret. He was gazing quietly at the reactor, and I noticed for the first time signs of damage, scorch marks here and there on the walls and blackened patches of metal across the sides as if the place had been in a fire or disaster of some kind before it had been rebuilt and reactivated. What had happened here?
"Barret?" I wondered.
"It's nothin'," he said, turning away from the reactor. "Let's jus' get a move on. Still got us a long way to go."
We couldn't argue with that—according to the map, we were still at least a day from Corel—so we headed out. There were two sets of train tracks that began at the reactor entrance, and we followed them out of the little valley and onto the southern trail. The tracks wound through the mountains, curving to the west but still bearing a bit south as well, and for the next few hours we made steady progress and didn't see any more monsters aside from a few groups of search crowns growing near the sides of the tracks amidst the rocks.
They were basically giant mushrooms almost two feet tall, with red tops and orange stalks. The things couldn't really move, but they could shoot their spores at us, and we found out the hard way that getting hit by them could put whoever was struck to sleep for a while. Fortunately, though, Aerith's Esuna spells from her Cleanse materia were enough to wake up anyone who needed it. And the effect itself also wore off on its own after only a minute or two. So we didn't have any problems getting rid of the monsters as we went down the tracks.
"Whew!" Jessie breathed after we'd finished clearing some of them out of our path. "These ugly mushrooms are definitely not gonna go on any of my pizzas, I can promise ya that!"
"Glad to hear it," I chuckled. "Pizza does sound good, though."
She smirked a little, and it was good to see a bit of her usual, perky self again, even if only for a moment. "Oh, yeah! I could really go for a little deep dish action right about now. Mmm..."
Aerith giggled as we got moving again. "Don't suppose it's possible to make it outdoors over a campfire, is it?"
"I could definitely whip up a pie or two if I had the ingredients and a good pan," Jessie answered. "But I didn't think to buy any of that stuff when we were stocking up back in town."
"There's always next time," Cloud assured her.
She smiled. "Thanks, Cloud. I suppose you'll want me to make ya a whole pie all to yourself, same as always?"
He nodded. "Yeah. Gotta keep up my strength."
"Alright, then!" Jessie flashed him a faint grin. "Another for me and Tifa, one for Aerith and Yuffie... hey, Red, think you'd like pizza? I can try to make something that'll sit well with ya."
"If there's plenty of meat on it, then yes," he replied.
She laughed a little. "Not a problem! Pepperoni, seasoned sausage, ground beef, ham... there's lots of good stuff to pick from. What about you, Barret? You like a bit of everything, don't you?"
He stopped for a moment, not looking at us at first, his eyes on the darkening sky ahead of us. We'd have to find ourselves a place to camp for the night before long. Barret was oddly quiet as he stood there with his back to us, clearly deep in thought. He hadn't said much since we'd left Costa del Sol the other day, and I wondered yet again why going to Corel was so hard for him. Then I remembered him mentioning to me, Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge a few years ago that it was his hometown. But that was all. He'd never said anything more about it.
"Barret?" I asked.
He looked at us over his shoulder. "Oh, uh... sorry, guys. Jus' got a lot on my mind. I know I been a bit cranky lately. More than usual, that is. Sorry 'bout that. Jus' bear with me, awright?"
Aerith took his good hand in hers. "It's okay. We're here for you. So don't worry, Barret. You're not alone. Ever."
"Thanks, Aerith," he said.
"Can you tell us what's bothering you?" I wondered.
Barret sighed. "Maybe I oughta. Least a bit, anyway. But we'd better find us a good spot to rest for the night first. An' then, once we've had a bite to eat, I... I'll fill ya in, tell ya what I can. 'Specially since we gonna get to the place tomorrow. An'... it won't be pretty."
"Corel..." Jessie murmured.
We got underway again after that, quieter now. The reality of what we were doing and how soon we would get there seemed to have taken away her good spirits, and she retreated back into the odd melancholy she'd wrapped herself in ever since we'd left Costa del Sol. But while we made our way down the tracks under the twilight sky, Barret looked at her, his gaze soft, sad, and oddly knowing.
"You got it right, Jessie," he said. "Jus' pile my pizza high."
She smiled faintly. "I will, Barret. Thanks..."