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Aerith practically bounced down the steps, trying to catch her friends before they split up and headed out for the day. She carried a basket in her hands. "Don't run off yet! Wait!"
"For what?" Barret grumbled. "I want some breakfast, man. I'm hungry."
"And you can get your breakfast in a minute. You're not going to starve." She scolded him. "I was thinking… since we're going to be here for a few more days and Christmas is coming up…" she held out the basket.
Cloud tilted his head. "Where did you even get a basket?"
"Does that really matter right now?" She narrowed her eyes at him.
"Guess not…"
"But if you must know, there is now a pile of dried flowers on my table in my room." She smiled at him as she watched him reach up to scratch the back of his head, a nervous habit she picked up on him having shortly after they met. "I want to do a Secret Santa!" She announced with a wide smile on her face.
"A… what?" Cloud was the one to speak up.
"I heard about it on a show."
"It's a silly holiday tradition that friends and family do." Cait jumped in so he could explain. "So ya all draw names and you get something for the person you get. But make sure you don't tell them. That's the Secret part."
"And why would we do that?" Barret folded his arms over his chest.
"Stop bein' a stick in the mud, the girl wants to play a game, we play a game." Cid pushed past the other man to get closer to where Aerith was. "What do I gotta do?"
"Just reach in and pick a name. And be honest!" She looked around at the others. "If you draw your own name, put it back and pick another one. I will know."
Tifa bounced forward and reached into the basket after Cid did. "This sounds fun. Are there any other rules?" She reached in and drew a name, tilting her head when she saw who it was.
"Nope, oh… don't spend too much. Let's limit it to… 200 gil?" She suggested. When she heard some agreeing and saw the others nod, she made her way around ensuring everybody got a name. "You can go get your breakfast now." She mocked Barret, earning a small snicker from Cloud.
"You shut it, I know you're hungry too." Barret looked at the name in his hand again and huffed. Of course he drew Cloud. At least it wasn't Red. He had no idea what to get that lab rat dog.
After he and the others finished their breakfast at the hotel restaurant, they split for the day. The goal was to just enjoy themselves, and Aerith emphasized getting gifts for their selections. Maybe he could just give Cloud the 200 gil, surely that would be better than hunting for something the merc probably wouldn't even like.
"And where are you off to?"
Barret looked over his shoulder, spotted Red behind him. "Don't know. You tagging along with me?"
"Everybody else already ran off. You're slower than they are." Red sat down on the ground beside him and tilted his head as he looked up at the tall man.
"Do you know how much you get on my nerves, dog?"
"Yes, actually I do." Red grinned up at him. When he heard Barret grumble, he simply focused on looking around. "So where are we off to?" As easy as it was to get under the man's skin, and as much as he often enjoyed it, he needed to spend time with him since he was the one he drew from Aerith's basket.
It was going to make for an interesting day.
About an hour later, the pair found themselves in Wonder Square. Red did his best to enjoy the games like a human, even drawing a crowd around to watch him attempt to snowboard on his back paws.
"You're too big for this." Red teased the man beside him when he hopped off of the game and stretched.
"And you're a damn dog." Barret grumbled. The games were fun, but he knew he really had to focus on figuring out his gift. "Who'd you get for this thing for Aerith?" He asked him bluntly.
"We were told we're not supposed to share." Red sat down on the floor beside him and looked up. He wouldn't share anyway considering his gift recipient was standing right in front of him.
Barret grumbled. "Fine, whatever. Play by the rules." He started to walk towards the exit. "There's a whole shopping spot I think. Since you seem to want to shadow me all day, let's go over there."
Red didn't have much of a choice. He had yet to learn anything about the man that would help him with his gift choice. However, as they were leaving Wonder Square, Barret was drawn into a gift shop there. "There's nothing but stuffed animals in here."
"Exactly. Should get something to take to my Marlene." Barret smiled. "She'd love all these things." His eyes focused on some stuffed chocobos before an idea hit him. That would be perfect for his gift.
Red hummed, mostly to himself. It wasn't the first time Barret mentioned his child during their time together or just in general. He was sure he could find something for the man.
—
"So, Cloud," Aerith hurried up to the man and hooked her arm through his as she matched his pace. "Where are you off to? Going to do some shopping?" She hinted.
Cloud, as much as he wanted to pull his arm away from her, he chose not to. It never did any good anyway because she usually just did it again with his other side. "I was thinking of wandering around the shops… yeah."
"Who did you get?" She pushed with a giggle.
"I thought we weren't supposed to share that." He arched his eyebrows at her.
"I'm the one who organized it. I get that privilege." She nudged him a little bit, hoping to get him to cave. When all she got in response was a scoff, she rolled her eyes and continued. "Okay fine. I was hoping that you'd be able to help me with my gift at least. You don't have to share, but that doesn't mean I can't."
Cloud stopped walking so he could turn to face the woman beside him. "Again, you just made it abundantly clear we're not supposed to share and—"
"Why are you always a stick in the mud? No wonder Barret picks on you so much."
"I'm—"
"—A stick in the mud." Aerith repeated herself, finishing off his sentence with a smile on her face. "So, if you're not going to tell me, I'm going to just assume that you picked my name and I can spend the rest of the day pointing out things that I like to you."
"Okay, fine." Cloud grumbled. Maybe Aerith could help him. He quickly looked around, making sure none of their other friends were around them before he caved and answered her question. "I drew Cait. And I have no idea what to get for a cat robot."
The woman hummed softly at hearing that. That was definitely a tough one. "We can just shop together because I got Tifa and you know her better than anybody else."
"I thought she was your best friend at this point." Cloud teased. He allowed the woman to lead him along the storefronts. He was thankful that Gold Saucer had a completely separate shopping area. Not everything at the resort was fun and games and kids running around screaming because they were too hyped up on sugar.
"I like to consider her my best friend, but that doesn't mean I know everything about her." Aerith hummed softly as she looked around. She turned with Cloud to go down a different row of shops but quickly changed direction when she spotted Vincent with Cid and Cait at the other end, also shopping. "Nope, we're not going that way yet. Especially since you got Cait."
Cloud nearly stumbled at the sudden change of direction but he was helpless to do anything about it as Aerith dragged him off to the first shop. He found himself looking at various trinkets and souvenirs. Statues and magnets. Plush creatures and t-shirts. All with bright letters reading 'Gold Saucer' printed on them. Nothing that would be good for Cait since the cat was from here.
Aerith continued to drag him along the row of shops, stopping periodically to look into the windows. "I need help with Tifa. I'll help you with Cait, you help me with Tifa. Tell me something about her." She asked as she looked at him.
"Uh… I don't know," he shook his head.
"Sure you do. You watched her growing up, didn't you?" She caught a faint blush on his face. "Then you know something that would help me!"
Cloud couldn't stop the small laugh that left him. It was loud enough to draw a shocked look from the brunette beside him. "What?"
"You should do that more."
"Do what?"
"Laugh, smile… be human." She teased him. He almost immediately groaned and it made her laugh. "Okay, back on the topic of Tifa."
Cloud continued to allow her to drag him from shop to shop. When they reached a bookstore, Cloud was the one to stop. "She read a lot." He said suddenly.
"She did?"
He nodded. "I remember seeing her on the water tower platform a lot with a book." He smiled softly at the memory. "Didn't know what she was reading, but she always had something."
"That's okay! I can surprise her with a couple different types of books." Aerith smiled widely. She walked with him into the store so they could look around. "I knew you'd be able to help me. My backup plan was totally to get her some gloves. I saw her looking at a pair the other day, but she didn't get them."
"Okay, so your gift is figured out," Cloud looked around at some of the books, knowing nothing would interest him. Especially when he saw the first one was a romance novel. Definitely not up his alley. "I'm not good at this stuff."
"Oh, I think I might have an idea for Cait." Aerith said as she looked through the novels on the shelves to pick out a few for Tifa.
—
"Shoppin' ain't for me." Cid grumbled as he trailed behind Vincent. "I'd rather go watch some of those chocobo races. That's more my speed."
"Well," Cait bounced in front of the two men. "How about we get the shoppin' done then go watch some races?" He suggested.
Vincent led the way to the shopping square. The sooner he got his gift figured out the better. Relaxing wasn't something he normally cared to do, but it was rather appealing. It would be something different for him and gambling on a few races did sound appealing to him.
"Fine, you're right. Sooner we get this done the better. It'll make Aerith happy if we all appease her."
Cait walked ahead of them and started motioning to a few of the shops. "I don't know who you boys got, but I got the dog." He told them.
"Red?" Cid laughed. "Should get him some food. Seems he likes to eat." He dug into his shirt pocket for a cigarette.
"Sir, you can't smoke here." One of the employees scolded him the moment he flicked his lighter.
"Why not? We're outside."
"Sir, either put it away or I'll have to ask you to leave."
Vincent hummed softly in amusement as Cid grumbled. He watched him pluck the cigarette back out of his mouth and made a show of shoving it back into his pack. "So you're tellin' me ya'll sell em but I can't smoke em?" Vincent followed where the man was pointing and made a mental note about the smoke shop that was right there.
"Stop arguing with the poor woman. Let's go." Vincent guided him away before he got himself kicked out for defying rules. "Didn't you just suggest we get this done so we can go and watch races?" He reminded him.
"Fine, whatever." Cid grumbled as he headed along the pathway with the others. "Aerith likes all her flowers." He thought out loud.
"She does. There's a florist down that way," Cait pointed ahead of them.
"But if you get her flowers, she will not be able to take them with us when we leave." Vincent reminded him.
Cait stopped to look around. "How about something with flowers on it?" He suggested.
"Some jewelry?" Cid continued to try to think of something for Aerith. "Yeah, ladies love jewelry. That's what I'll do." He nodded, proud of himself. "Okay, let's go shoppin' boys!" He declared before he walked ahead of them to browse the shops.
—
"Ooo, do you think we can get enough points for that?" Yuffie's eyes lit up as she leaned over the counter, looking at the materia that was on display as a reward.
Tifa walked up beside her and looked at the display. Tilting her head, she thought about it. "We can try. You wanna do a few rounds with me?"
The pair had wandered off to Battle Square together. It had quickly become Tifa's favorite spot of the resort. Sure, she played a few games with the others, but she loved the challenge that the digital battlefield had to offer her. Just the day before, her and Cloud spent a couple of hours going round after round.
The man wasn't interested in spending any of his points he earned, so he'd transferred them to her. Looking back at the price of the materia, Tifa smiled. A few more rounds and she could afford to get it with her points. It would be the perfect gift for the materia hunter. She just hoped she could get enough points to cover it.
The pair spent about an hour taking up one of the Battle Square arenas. Together, they accumulated enough points for a few trinkets from the shop, but Tifa had enough for the materia. A secret she didn't plan to share with Yuffie. Not until everybody exchanged their gifts.
"Do you wanna go play some games or something? It's gonna take forever to get the points." Yuffie pouted.
Tifa followed her out and looked around. "Why don't you head over there? I'm going to find the little girls room and meet you over there."
"Okay!" Yuffie didn't need to be told twice.
As the teen left, Tifa lingered where she was for a minute until she was gone before she made her way back into the shop to cash in her points.
—
Aerith grabbed her bag from the bed before she made her way towards the door. She was happy that her friends decided to do this with her. They could at least be a little festive. The others had been starting to return to the hotel from the day out and she had darted upstairs to get her own gift for Tifa. Cloud also dipped into his room to get his gift as well.
When she walked out of her room, she smiled and bounced towards Cloud. "You ready?"
"I'm ready for dinner, honestly." He shrugged.
"Stop being a party pooper, come on. Gifts first then food. I swear all you boys care about is food." She looked down at the little bag that Cloud had then hooked her arm through his once again to lead him down the hallway. "Everybody else is waiting for us."
Cloud rolled his eyes and trudged along with her. Once they were finally downstairs, he noticed everybody else already sitting at the large table along the back wall. He saw bags of various shapes and colors already sitting in the middle of the table.
Tifa was drinking from a cup of tea, waiting for everybody to sit down. Cid was fidgeting in his seat. Next to him sat Vincent, his arms folded over his chest. From what Cloud heard, they lost a bit of money on the chocobo races the day before. He saw the way Red was sniffing the air and each time he started to lean closer to the table, towards a larger box, Barret reached his arm across in front of him.
"About time, can we open these things so we can eat?" Barret spoke up, looking towards the pair that joined them.
"Yes." Aerith took the bag from Cloud and put it onto the table with the others. She waited for him to take the empty seat between Tifa and Yuffie and giggled at the way his folded his arms over his chest. "Is everybody ready?"
"We've been ready." Tifa leaned against the table, as did Yuffie. "You wanted to take forever," her eyes darted towards Cloud then back at Aerith.
One by one, Aerith picked up the bags to look at the names written on them. She made her way around the table to hand everything out. The last thing she did was pick up the box and moved closer to Red to put it down in front of him. When she turned to the table, she saw Cloud already peaking into his bag.
"For someone that didn't want to do this, you sure are nosy." She teased him, making him pull his hand back from the bag.
His eyes darted around and he heard giggling from Tifa beside him. Feeling a blush rise to his cheeks, he looked back down at the bag.
"I wanted to do this, so I'll open mine first." Aerith announced. She was happy that everybody played along with her for this. They didn't get time like this and she had a feeling they wouldn't have a chance to do this again once they left to continue their journey.
She reached into her little bag and pulled out a small box that she quickly realized was a jewelry box. Her eyes flicked up at her friends, trying to figure out who it was from. Cid lifted his hand to wave at her. Smiling, she popped open the box and saw a necklace inside. It was a thin gold color chair with a rose pendant hanging on it.
"It's beautiful." She shot up from her seat and hurried around the table to wrap her arms around him. "Thank you."
"Yeah, yeah, you're welcome." Cid smiled anyway and returned her hug.
Barret decided to reach out for his little bag to dig through the paper inside. He pulled out a box that was similar to Aerith's and narrowed his eyes. "Jewelry?" He arched his eyebrows.
"Just open it." Red glared at him.
Barret hesitated when he heard his voice. He didn't know what to expect now that he knew Red was responsible for his gift. "How did you even get something?" He asked as he fought with the ribbon to get it off of the box so he could open it.
"Aerith helped me. The shop owner refused to talk to me." Red sniffed the air again. Something around him smelled really good and he knew it was coming from the box in front of him.
The man finally got the box open and tilted his head. It was a locket. It wasn't a necklace, but more of a locket he could keep in his pocket. "What's this?"
"For that picture of Marlene you carry around. It should help keep it safe." Red explained. He heard a few 'awws' from those around the table. He kept his eyes on Barret and tilted his head when the man looked towards him. "Are you alright?"
Barret stared at the beast. Someone that he had an interesting relationship with to say the least. The locket would help him keep his picture safe. "Thanks, dog."
"That's so sweet, Red!" Aerith giggled. She reached over to take it from Barret to look at it. "I'll help you get the picture in there." She offered the man, knowing that he'd struggle a bit with just one hand and also knowing that he was far too stubborn to willingly ask for any help.
"I don't need—"
"I'll help you." She cut him off with a giggle. "Okay, who's… next…" she already heard ripping.
Red was digging into his box. He clawed his way into the top of it and immediately stuck his head into the opening he created. "Oh… ham," his voice cracked a bit as he started to immediately chow down.
"Really? Food?" Cloud looked around. He had to admit it was a smart idea. Red seemed to be easily pleased with food.
"See, I knew he'd like it." Cait nodded, proud of himself. "Easy to appeal to a dog." His commented earned a small growl from Red. "Easy, Fido."
Red grumbled again before he shoved his head back into the box to go back to eating his gift.
Cait reached out and snatched the red gift bag from the table in front of him. "From Cloud," he read the tag on the side of it before he dug into it and pulled out a shiny new megaphone. "Ooo, I've been eyeballin' this'n." He examined every bit of it as he sat down on his chair, now occupied with his new gift.
Cloud glanced towards Aerith and gave her a thankful nod. Without the woman's help, he would have been completely lost on what to get for the cat.
"Cloud, what did you get?" Aerith asked him, wanting to move things along. She leaned against the table to watch him.
The blonde looked around, suddenly all eyes were on him and he wanted to shrink back. He hated being the center of attention. "Uh… sure…" reaching out, he grabbed the bag to tip in his direction. He reached in blindly and searched around until he hit something soft.
Then he pulled out a plushie toy.
It only took a second for everybody at the table to erupt with laughter.
It was a chocobo head.
"Really?" He asked, noting Barret laughing the hardest about it.
"What? I found your twin. Perfect for ya!" The big man laughed louder when Cloud scoffed.
"Aww, it's cute." Tifa reached out and took it from him. She giggled as she held it up beside her friend. "The resemblance is uncanny though, Cloud."
Aerith leaned over, reaching up, she turned Cloud's chin towards her and nodded. "Oh yeah. I see no difference."
"Very funny." Cloud reached out and grabbed the plushie from Tifa's hand and finally looked at it. It was cute, that much he could admit. "Thanks, I think."
"I put a lotta thought into that, you better like it!" Barret glared at him.
Cid looked down beside him when all he heard was chomping and licking sounds. "Dammit dog, why you gotta be so loud?"
"I'm eating."
He snatched his bag off of the table. "I know that. But you're so loud." The man dug into his bag and tilted his head. Pulling out the smaller package, he examined it and tilted his head. "Well I'll be…"
"What is it?" Cid didn't say anything as he flipped the package over to immediately hunt for a seam. "Cid?" Tifa pushed again.
The man ripped the package open and immediately pulled out one of the cigarettes. "Fancy smokes." He finally answered her. He started to pat his pockets to hunt for his lighter as laughter started around him.
"Sir, you can't smoke in here!"
Cid ignored the woman.
"Sir, if you don't put that away I have to ask you to leave!" She quickly approached their table and stared at him.
"Why are ya'll such jerks about this? It's just a cigarette."
"Because there's other families here who don't want to smell cigarette smoke. There are designated—"
"—Areas outside, yadda, yadda." Cid pulled his lighter out of his pocket when he finally found it.
"Sir!"
Vincent was the one to reach over and take the cigarette out of the man's mouth. "Be respectful."
Aerith watched the scene unfold in front of them. She watched the way Cid's eyes narrowed, and she'd learned enough about the man at that point to know what was coming. The moment his hand started to lift up, she knew a rude gesture was coming. "Cid, knock it off!" She finally jumped in before he had the chance to do it. When he settled back down, she looked at the woman near their table. "He's sorry. He will wait until he's outside. Right?"
"Yeah, yeah." Cid folded his arms over his chest as he leaned back on his chair. "Thanks for the smokes, when did you even get em anyway?" He looked over at Vincent beside him.
"When you were so adamant on smoking after losing that last race." Vincent hummed softly. When Cid was too busy grumbling about losing money gambling, he left the man alone to head to the smoke shop they saw in the shopping square. He saw the way Cid tossed a small smile and nod in the man's direction.
Vincent noticed the table had gone quiet. His eyes darted up to see everybody was looking at him. There was an assumption made that he'd go next. With a soft hum, he reached out for his package. He wasn't sure what to think of it since it wasn't in a gift bag like everybody else's was. Taking the hint, he started to unwrap the gift. His ears perking in the process when he heard Yuffie's giggles.
He finally ripped the package open, revealing a board game that made him tilt his head. "The Game of Life?" He asked.
Yuffie, quite proud of herself, threw her head back with laughter. "Because I think you need to get a life." She stated, earning some laughter from the others around her.
Cloud even smirked. "At least I'm not the only one with a gag gift." He stated, amused.
"I think it's fun," Aerith got up and moved closer to him. "Maybe we can play it before we leave." She suggested with a nod. It was more of a quiet demand to spend more time with her friends before the next leg of their journey then a request. "Who's left?" She gently rested her hand on Vincent's shoulder as she looked around.
The only ones left were Tifa and Yuffie. Yuffie was already shaking her bag trying to figure out what was in it. "Me, me, me." The teen didn't wait for any approvals before she tore into her bag, paper flying everywhere, then her eyes grew wide. "Materia…"
Tifa giggled as the girl pulled out the blue orb. "I might have lied about going to the bathroom after the Battle Square yesterday."
"But we didn't have enough points! How did you get this?" Yuffie brought it up to her face to smell it, ignoring the chuckles around her.
"Cloud and I spent a while there the day before." She glanced over at the man and smiled. "So you can thank him too. He gave his points to me."
Yuffie sprung up and rushed around to hug Tifa who returned it, then she hugged Cloud, much to his dismay. "Get off of me." He grumbled.
"No." Yuffie giggled and purposefully nuzzled her head against his. The man continued to grumble but just let her do it. "Thank you both." She shot back upright and brought the materia close to her to nuzzle it instead.
"Well, she's happy." Tifa giggled, feeling quite proud of herself. She looked around the table and realized she was the only one left. "Okay, I guess it's my turn huh?" She pulled her bag closer to her and realized it had some weight to it.
Opening the bag, she reached in around the decorative paper and felt something hard. Humming softly, she pulled out a book. Then another one. One of them had the bare chest of a man on it and it made her blush brightly. She immediately knew what kind of book it was and tried to hide it from those around her. She looked at the other one and saw it had a relatively plain cover.
"Cloud told me you liked to read when you were younger." Aerith chimed in. She glanced at the man to see him blushing. "He didn't help me pick the books though. He ran when I went into the romance section." She wiggled her eyebrows.
Tifa looked over at Cloud and saw him looking down at his lap. He helped Aerith with her gift and it made her smile. "Thank you, both of you. I haven't read in so long." She flipped the plain book over to read the back summary of it.
"Hopefully they're good. That other one you're hiding looked like something I'd read, so if you don't like it I'll take it and read it." Aerith noticed the way Tifa's face flushed bright red, but saw her smile about it.
The brunette made her way back to the seat she'd claimed as her own finally and looked around the table. She didn't know how often they'd be able to do anything like this once they left the Gold Saucer, but she didn't think it was possible to be happier than she was right now.
Everything felt perfect and even though some of them pushed back against the idea, everybody was happy and smiling. Even Vincent and Cloud had smiles on their faces. Everything felt perfect and she felt complete. She loved her mom dearly, but this was the family she'd always hunted for.